Silver Cross
by Aryanne
Summary: From New York to L.A., from vampire to hunter, and from life to death to life again. From friend to enemy, from blood to ecstasy, and from pain to love to pain again. This is his existence. [KK]
1. Silver Cross

**A/N -** **A repost of the first chapter, because I didn't like the old version. I think this one is more realistic.  
**

**-**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**- **  


**Silver Cross**

**-**  


Necessity had long ago made Ken a people watcher. The waitress stood out because of her youth. He supposed she was around eighteen or nineteen, while the rest of the waitresses ranged upwards in age from their early thirties. The second night, she walked by him on the way to the kitchen. The tag pinned to her shirt said "Hi! I'm Kaoru!" and featured a smiling raccoon face.

Ken was hanging around Philadelphia suburbia on a self-declared break. The hunters were after him. But they were always after him. They'd catch up soon. He didn't mind. He liked a little confrontation. Hunters didn't have much support in the City of Brotherly Love anyway; it was one of his people's safest cities on the east coast.

In the meantime, he hadn't seen anyone like Kaoru in one hundred and thirty years. He hadn't recognized her as anything special at first. She was average – average height for a woman, slightly large blue eyes, long lashes, black hair worn in the same bun as all the waitresses, pretty, but not beautiful, mixed, but mostly Japanese-American. No, her appearance wasn't at all remarkable. She'd caught his attention when one of the customers had a fit because he'd slipped and almost fallen on the salt Ken had watched some kid spill a half hour ago. Kaoru had talked him down professionally, winning him over with a few coupons for free coffee. That hadn't been what impressed him. He'd watched her as she walked by him afterwards, marveling at the amount of crap waitresses could deal with, when he'd noticed she was pissed off. It had almost made him laugh, that expression on her face.

He didn't laugh often; hadn't for years. So it made him feel a little human. He'd watched her face for more entertainment and hadn't been disappointed. Each one of her feelings was broadcasted there – confusion, anger, pleasure, irritation. Mostly, she smiled. The whole business made Ken feel like a stalker, but he told himself he was just sitting there, passing the time with coffee and a book, waiting for the hunters to gain IQ points. And if a certain waitress whose pin said "Hi! I'm Kaoru!" relieved his monotony a little, then so be it.

When her shift was over, her boyfriend came to pick her up. He always made her laugh. Her laughter was somehow better when he was around. Better was strange to describe laughter, but it was the right word. Ken had heard her call the boy Sew. What kind of name was that for a male? Ken had mastered countless languages, intrigued by people of different cultures, and he'd never met a man named Sew.

But he didn't care about the boy anyway, except to see the way the waitress reacted to him. She exhibited none of the mannerisms of Japanese culture, yet she and her boyfriend used some Japanese words in their speech, mostly slang.

Ken might have considered the waitress as a possible contact, if it wasn't for the earrings. Tiny silver cross earrings dangled from her ears. She'd worn them since the first night he'd spotted her. He was oddly fascinated by them, by the way they caught the light sometimes and reflected a sharp point of light into his eyes, but he hated them a little. It was nothing personal.

Ken hadn't expected to come back the third night. He didn't usually hang around suburbia. It was easier to get lost in the city, though he liked it less. But maybe he was itching for contact with the hunters, or maybe he wanted to see that "Hi! I'm Kaoru!" pin with the dumb raccoon face another time. He sat at a table in the corner, ordered coffee and tried to read his book, but he couldn't help half watching her from across the room. These stalkerish tendencies he'd discovered in himself were starting to freak him out.

She was a normal human, but all humans have their quirks. Maybe it was the silver cross earrings that kept him intrigued. She was religious. The aura hung over her like a shroud. He wondered if her faith would be shaken if she found out the truth about him. He rather doubted it, but she was only human.

Since he'd lost his faith, he sometimes felt like giving up. He'd almost done it once, but it had burned so severely that he'd had some sense knocked into him. The burn had taken only a day's rest to heal, but he remembered the lesson. Something sought him. Ken knew that if the hunters ever caught him unawares, he'd find out just what that was, after torture of course. But these hunters wouldn't catch him, they weren't in his league. So for a little while, he thought he'd risk watching this waitress who seemed so full, her emotion splashed his eyes when she walked by.

_- _

_July 7, 2003  
Monday  
Sou's gone to Japan. My parents are on their cruise for the next three weeks, so they're gone too. And did I have to get an evening shift at work? It was okay when Sou was around to pick me up, but now I have to walk alone to the bus stop in the dark. I'm tired. Sundays are my only good days, with church people for company and no work. Mental note: ask Kate if I can switch tables. There's an interesting customer who's been coming in the last few days. I love the red hair. Sou's due to call me tonight after work. I don't miss him as much as I thought I would. Kaoru_

-

Ken sat at a booth in the back and picked up a menu. He was full tonight. Just a coffee then. That was one of the good things about Pennsylvania – there was plenty of livestock around.

"What can I get you this evening, sir?"

It was the '"Hi! I'm Kaoru!" with assorted raccoons' waitress. He'd had time to appreciate her, and now thought she was very pretty, maybe a little beautiful. Her bangs wisped across her forehead. For the first time, he wondered what she'd look like with her hair down, out of the mandatory waitress bun. He also wondered why she was serving his table tonight.

"Coffee and a blueberry muffin." He could stuff himself just a little more, besides, this was a different type of food altogether.

"Alright." She smiled and made a note on her pad. "Decaf or regular," Kaoru asked. She wondered if the slight man was always a light eater. He looked thin enough. Disappointingly, he was as mysterious when you spoke to him as he was from across the room. Somehow, she'd expected him to say more than five words. Maybe he wasn't the type to strike up conversations with strangers.

"Regular."

Ah the six word mark.

Ken watched her move towards the kitchen, the scent of jasmine trailing to his nose in her wake. It was an interesting choice, the perfume she wore.

_- _

_Humans aren't worth anything to you now. Remember that.  
But I am human.  
Was.  
I hate you.  
You're having trouble adjusting.  
You lied to me. I don't want to see you again.  
Stop whining. You can't change anything by whining. I saved you from death because I love you. I thought you loved me too.  
I swear I'll never be like you. I'll never bring anyone else into this misery._

-

Ken closed his eyes for a moment in an effort to shut out the memories. When he opened them she was coming back. She brought his muffin on a small plate, sat a cup and saucer in front of him, and poured the coffee from a container. He watched as the steam rose in tendrils, banishing the last of the memory, smoke from a long ago fire.

"Thank you, Kaoru," he said. She looked surprised that he'd known her name, but then her eyes flickered to her employee name tag.

"You're welcome, sir," she answered. "Anything else you'd like to order?" She liked the sound of her name coming from his mouth.

"Call me, Ken. And no, there's nothing else."

"Enjoy your meal," Kaoru said with a smile. She walked away towards the next table, glancing back to witness him add cream and sugar with long fine hands, piano hands, her mother called them. Kaoru had always wanted piano hands. She wondered what he did for a living with those hands.

_- _

_July 10, 2003  
Thursday  
Work is interesting. I talked to that guy on my break yesterday. He seems young at first glance, just a couple years older than me, but the way he carries himself says he's much older. His name's Ken. I didn't tell Sou about him when he called yesterday. Not that Sou's the jealous type! I've got a long shift tonight, until two in the morning- eight hours. Pray for me. I'll need plenty of patience with the late crowd. I don't know how the others do it every day. I need the money though. _

-

Ken came in much later than he had before. He'd considered not coming at all since he knew the hunters had found him, but he wanted to see the waitress one more time. One more time and then he could kill his irritating stalker traits forever. These particular two hunters had never seen him before, so they didn't try to hide themselves. Of course he'd seen them. Tonight, Ken picked a table in the back so he could slip out easily. How long had it been since the older of the hunters had been looking for him? Two hundred years if you counted his ancestors. The whole inbred clan of them was persistent, he gave them that, but they'd had no hope of tracking him until they hired the experienced hunter. A dozen of his kind had been killed by that one.

Ken had sort of hoped the girl wasn't working today, but she was. Now that the hunters had found him, he hoped she wouldn't have time to come over and talk to him. He had no wish to connect her with himself in the eyes of the hunters, because he wouldn't rescue her. He'd been alone too long to start caring about someone else.

If they interrogated her, she would have questions. A part of him wanted to give her answers, so he could witness which emotion she felt. That instant, when she first believed, he'd know everything there was to know about her. Ken decided he'd leave her an address. Being constantly alone was boring. If she showed up at the spot and wasn't followed, he wouldn't approach her. If she was followed, well then it was his duty to save a damsel in distress, was it not? Ken studied her under his bangs as she served a section across the restaurant from him. He'd have to feed soon. Not a problem, once he ditched the hunters. He could find a farm or something. Plenty of farms in Pennsylvania.

At one o'clock, he watched as she walked over to him. She hadn't been in the main dining room for the last ten minutes. He'd assumed she was on break. He saw her smile at him and he nodded to the chair in front of him. Too late to chase her off now. They'd seen.

"I hope you don't mind me stopping to chat for a minute," Kaoru said, sitting down. For the first time that evening, she got a good look at his face. Ken had curious violet eyes with surprising flecks of amber. She was jealous of those eyes. But tonight it seemed as if the life and been leeched from his gaze. "Are you okay?" she couldn't help asking, "You look pale."

"I'm fine," he said, wondering how she'd noticed in the dim lighting. He was impressed. Most humans never noticed a significant change in his coloring, but then he never hung around the same place for very long. He hadn't been in this area for at least fifteen years. It hadn't changed much.

"If you say so," she said dubiously.

"I'm leaving tonight," he told her, sipping the coffee that tasted worse and worse the longer he went without feeding. He watched her eyes to see the reaction he knew would be displayed there. She looked disappointed. Part of him was pleased that someone cared to see him after all these years. Another part of him resented her. He felt the slightest twinge of guilt.

"Oh," she said, subdued. "Well if you ever drop by here again, stop by. I always work here in the summer," she finished lightly, but her eyes were troubled.

Ken didn't answer. The two hunters stood from their table. They wouldn't risk a scene in the crowded restaurant, but he had to leave. He focused back on Kaoru's eyes with difficulty. He wondered if he'd ever look into them again. Probably not. He couldn't come back for at least ten years, when no one would be around to remember him and notice his lack of aging. He certainly would be sure to never let her see him again. Still, he wondered what she'd look like in ten years. Maybe he'd drop by.

Ken handed her the paper with the address, careful to keep the action from the hunters' eyes. "Put it in your pocket. Read it if you need help. Otherwise, don't bother," he instructed, mustering his strength and standing. "Sayonara," he turned and disappeared down the bathroom hallway and into the night.

Slipping the paper in her apron pocket, Kaoru watched him leave. Ken certainly had a love of dramatic exits. She'd never seen him standing before. He was a few inches taller than her, thin, and his hair was just as long as hers, drawn into a careless ponytail at the back of his neck. Something about the way he moved was predatory. He was as quick and graceful as Sou, more so if that was possible. She'd practically blinked and he was gone.

Two men rushed up to her. One hurried past and ran down the hallway where Ken had disappeared to, but the other sat down in the chair Ken had so recently vacated.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked in confusion.

He took her in silently. "You're not one of them."

Kaoru looked at him, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Come with me," he ordered, standing.

"No," Kaoru told him, standing as well, "I have to get back to work now."

"Please, come with me," he said again.

Kaoru bristled. She did not like this man. She couldn't see his eyes, hidden behind dark shades. You can tell so much about a person through their eyes. Without a word, she turned her back on him and marched to the kitchen, head held high. If he had anything to do with Ken, she wasn't going to tell him anything. In this situation, she sensed Ken was the one being wronged. She thought she'd glimpsed a gun underneath the man's overcoat when he'd stood.

Kaoru was dismayed when she came out of the kitchen and Tae motioned her over to an area where there were no customers. The two men were talking to her. All three looked serious.

"Kaoru, these men are from a detective agency. They have some questions for you about the man you were talking to," Tae told her as she drew level with them.

"I have nothing to say to them," Kaoru said. This was like the movies. You got killed off if you knew too much. Kaoru was determined not to know too much. Just who the heck was Ken anyway?

Tae excused herself and pulled Kaoru by her arm until they were out of hearing distance. "Kaoru, they said they could file charges to the local police station if you didn't co-operate. Please, just talk to them. They said that guy was no good. You could help arrest him." Tae's brown eyes were filled with concern.

"I don't believe it," Kaoru said. "I don't like the look of them, Tae. You know I'm a good judge of character. We called the cops that last time a guy came in I didn't like the look of and they got here just as he was pulling a gun out on Chihiro."

"But, Kao, they've been tracking him all the way from Europe," Tae told her, her tone grave. "He's wanted in France."

"They don't seem very French to me. I think we should call the cops and get this verified, Tae."

"You think I didn't already? The white-haired man knew one of the sergeants. I spoke with the office myself. He vouched for both of them."

Kaoru blinked in surprise. Apparently she'd been wrong about Ken. It unsettled her. She'd learned to trust her instincts.

"Listen," Tae continued, "I'll let them have the back office. I want you to go back there and talk to them and tell them everything you know about that man who was here."

"You're leaving me alone with them?"

"That's how interviews are done, Kaoru. Now tell them you'll talk while I go make sure the office is clean."

Kaoru nodded, still uneasy. But who didn't feel uneasy when they were about to be interviewed in a criminal investigation? It was normal, she told herself. "I will, Tae."

_- _

_Why are you here?  
My name's Sano. I was turned a couple nights ago. Listen, do you know a place I could stay? My parents kicked me out when I told them.  
How did you find me?  
I've seen you at the tavern the past few nights_._ I followed you from there. I don't have anywhere safe to go.  
Fine, kid. I'll show you around for a few nights, but after that you're on your own.  
Thanks, but I'm not a kid. You don't look much older than me.  
I'm ninety-nine.  
Oh.  
But you're right, you're not a kid. Not anymore._

-

"Miss Kamiya, you're not cooperating," the white haired man said in a cold tone. He'd introduced himself as Enishi.

"I told you everything I know. It's not like we talked more than a couple times," Kaoru said defensively. She'd told them everything. What did they want her to say – she knew where Ken was headed next?

"You don't know what he is," the other exclaimed, jumping up from his chair and walking towards Kaoru.

"What is he then?" Kaoru broke in, annoyed.

"A monster. My family has vowed revenge on him for two hundred years."

She admired his passion, but this was getting ridiculous. Kaoru scoffed. "How dumb do you think I am? He can't be older than twenty-three."

Enishi glared at the other man, who moved away and sat down again. "Forgive Jineh for telling you that before I wanted you to know. He's emotionally involved," he said smoothly, refocusing on Kaoru.

She said nothing, watching as he walked to her and sat down, dragging the chair so that he sat directly in front of her.

"That man is a vampire. We're hunting it."

Kaoru blinked. She didn't believe a police sergeant had vouched for these two men. She also didn't like they way he referred to Ken as 'it'. Human beings were never 'it's. Once you start calling people it, you dehumanize them, make it easier to treat them like animals, make it easier to kill them.

"There are no such things as vampires."

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there are. It is one, and this man," Enishi waved a hand idly in the other's direction, "and his family have hired me to hunt it down. It has eluded them for two hundred years."

"You two are both crazy, and even if that was true, why would they hire you? Are you supposed to be some kind of vampire killer or something?" Kaoru asked incredulously. "I'm on TV. That must be it. There's got to be a hidden camera around here."

"There has not been a hunter in history who has killed as many vampires as I have," Enishi said serenely. "Almost all of its kind stand ready to kill me. The thing you call 'Ken' is well known in vampire circles. I will not stop until I find it."

Kaoru stared back at Enishi's sunglasses. There was no passion in his voice when he spoke, no emotion, just bland rhetoric. Ken talked like that. He wasn't a vampire, but he was involved with these men. Maybe he was on the run from the government, maybe he'd killed someone. She was angry at him for involving her in whatever mess he was mired.

"You must think I'm a little girl," she said to both the men, "telling me scary stories so I'll break and cry. Am I supposed to start screaming for my mommy now? I'm going to tell you this once more – there are no such things as vampires. I don't know why you two really want to find Ken, but I have no more information to give to you."

"The only reason you were protected was because of your earrings. That's how I knew you weren't one of them," the man continued as if Kaoru hadn't said anything.

"What are you talking about?" Kaoru asked frustrated. She almost unconsciously fingered a silver cross earring. The end of the French hook poked her one of her fingers.

"Vampires are enemies of the light," Enishi explained. "Silver burns them, as do crosses. If one touched a cross, the cross would start burning into its flesh. I was far away from him tonight, but it looked like he needed to feed. The cross saved you."

"I know the stories about vampires," Kaoru said wearily. Suddenly, she only wanted to be home asleep.

Enishi slipped his hand in his coat pocket and Kaoru was hyper alert again, afraid he was going to pull out the gun she'd seen, but he didn't. Instead he held something small in his fist, which he extended to her.

Kaoru just looked at him.

"Open your hand," he commanded.

She did. It was white and hard and slightly warm. Kaoru brought the long canine tooth close to her face for inspection.

"It's from one of the vampires I killed."

She examined it closely. Kaoru was no dentist. It could be a dog tooth for all she knew. It was certainly dangerous looking, an inch long, curved and unusually sharp. Looking up at him, she shrugged. "I don't know for sure that it's human."

"They're not human. Not anymore." He held out his hand and she dropped it in his palm, glad to be rid of the long tooth. She could still feel the warmth of the tooth. A slight shiver from coursed through her body. She knew Enishi noticed, but he said nothing. He merely slipped the tooth back in his pocket and stood.

"Miss Kamiya, you are free to go. My partner and I may be dropping in on you if we feel you may have more information. We appreciate your cooperation in this interview."

Kaoru stood, glad they were letting her leave, but not liking the thought of a later visit. Could they do that? "You're welcome," she said anyway.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else what we spoke of," he said mildly, pulling back his overcoat and exposing the gun for a second.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "They wouldn't believe me anyway." She swept out of the room.

_- _

_Why have you been watching her?  
I knew her before I was turned, that's all. I think I would've married her.  
You're thinking of turning her.  
No! . . . Well maybe.  
Do you think she'd want that?  
Are you kidding? I hate living like this_._ She'd hate it even more, not being able to help people... She's a doctor. Everyone in her whole family is a doctor. It's just so lonely though. You know what I mean?  
A woman turned me_. _I didn't know what she was. I'll never forgive her. If she loved me, she would've let me_ _die.  
I don't want Megumi to hate me. I wish this had never happened.  
It's a lonely life, Sano. I'm leaving tomorrow. I have hunters after me. You can make it on your own now.  
Let me come with you. Then I can get my mind off Megumi.  
I won't be coming back this way for years.  
I need to leave before I do something I regret. I don't want her to live like this.  
We leave early tomorrow night, then. You'd better say goodbye.  
I will._

-

She didn't know why she'd come. She'd almost forgotten about the paper she'd stuffed in her apron.

_Take off work for the next few nights and come to 88 Lyndon Drive. 7B._

She didn't know why she'd taken off work and taken the bus down here at one o'clock in the morning, but she figured she'd regret it for the rest of her life if she didn't. This was the oddest experience of her life. Kaoru wanted answers. Like just how did one pick up two stalkers who thought they were vampire hunters? She was sure it was a fascinating process.

88 Lyndon Drive was an abandoned apartment building. Walking up the steps and trying the door, she wasn't surprised to find it unlocked. Taking a deep breath, she swung it out toward her and stepped into the dark.

Ken waited until she'd come in to sense the dark night behind her. The hunters had followed her. He smelled kerosene. They intended to burn the place down to the ground and find him that way. Luckily, he'd stashed those fireworks from the Fourth of July here.

Kaoru was glad she'd brought nothing but her wallet tucked into her back pants pocket as she searched through the apartment. No purse left her with both her hands to navigate through the dark rooms, calling softly for Ken. No one was in apartment 7B. Kaoru was disappointed. She'd thought for sure he would be there. Not that she'd made a very thorough search. It was pitch black. The windows were boarded up. She couldn't see a thing. She'd felt her way around. But it didn't matter much. He wasn't there. But boy would she have a story to tell. She would call in when she got home and tell Tae she could work tomorrow after all.

The full moon was in three days, so dim light shone in from the hallway. The figure of a man stepped into the doorway. Kaoru squinted, her heart suddenly racing. She thought this was probably the type of place axe murderers hung out. "Ken?"

"Come into the hallway. We haven't got much time."

It was him. Right now, she'd recognize his voice anywhere. "Ken! They said you were a vampire!" Kaoru laughed, walking towards him. She ignored her uneasiness. He wasn't an axe murderer. That was what mattered.

Ken grabbed her wrist. His hand was cold, as if he'd just come in from a snowball fight and hadn't had any gloves on, but dry and smooth. "I am."

Kaoru jerked her arm away. "What? Vampires aren't real." Was he as crazy as those men?

He opened his mouth and she saw the fangs descend from his canine teeth. They gleamed dully in the moonlight.

She recoiled from him, backing away into the wall.

It was depressing to wonder for so long about this moment, only to see fear in those dark blue eyes. But he'd known it would come to this if he ever saw her again. Feeling foolish, he closed his mouth and let the fangs withdraw. He was surprised when she spoke.

"Why?"

He didn't know what she was talking about. Was she asking why he was a vampire?

"Why what?" he asked, not moving.

The fear left her eyes. He realized it had been there only a moment. "Why haven't we got much time?" she asked, taking a step toward him and away from the wall.

Surprised, he couldn't help but smirk. "What makes you think you can trust me? You know what I am."

"I never trusted you before," she said frankly, "just liked you. But I figure if you haven't done anything to me by now, you're not going to. I don't like those hunters, even if they did turn out to be right about you."

"Right about me?" Ken asked, bemused. She had more spunk than he'd attributed her. Maybe she was worth the trouble of keeping her around. The hunters were likely to make a visit to her house next. She shouldn't be there when they did.

"You're a vampire, but I don't think you're as bad as they say," she explained. "So why haven't we got much time?"

"Two hunters followed you here. They're going to burn the apartment building down. They're pouring gasoline around the outside right now. I smell it. We'll get out through the basement. It connects to the building next to this one," he told her. "My car is down the block a few hundred yards."

Kaoru was alarmed, but curious. "Vampires have cars?"

"Yes." He held out his hand. She talked like she didn't fear him, and the terrified look was gone from her eyes, but he still wasn't sure she'd take it. She did. He could feel warmth flowing through her hand and for a moment he was fiercely jealous. But the moment passed as it had many times before and he closed his fingers over her hand so that he held it in a firm grip. He felt pleased when she grasped his hand as well. She was giving him the strength to operate through the haze caused by his need for blood, but his hunger was frustrating. He needed to feed before the night was over or he'd be too weak when the sun set the next day to find a meal on his own, much less elude the hunters.

"Don't let go," he instructed. "When we get outside, I'm going to run so they don't see us. Just try to keep up."

Kaoru took a deep breath and nodded. He led her down the hallway at a fast walk, deeper into the building, and stopped at the end. The door was gone. A stairway led down into pitch blackness.

"Stay close so you don't bump into anything," he instructed. "I memorized the layout." He started down the stairs, pleased when she did as he asked. He smelled smoke already.

It was pitch black in the basement. Kaoru was glad that Ken seemed to be on her side. She racked her mind for everything she knew about vampires. You couldn't see their reflection. They didn't like garlic. They couldn't go out in the sun. They sucked your blood from your neck. Did they turn into bats too? Or was it mist? And what happened during the full moon? No, that was werewolves.

She tripped and felt Ken support her so she didn't fall. He didn't seem like a vampire. His black cape and Transylvanian accent were lacking. Kaoru felt an insane urge to giggle. She told herself she would be okay. He'd drive her back to her house and she'd go to sleep. When she woke up, Sou would call and she'd tell him this crazy story and they'd laugh over it. Sou laughed a lot. That was one of the things she liked most about him. He was almost always happy, not like this stranger. What had drawn her to him in the first place? Why couldn't she just leave well enough alone and stick to serving the tables she was assigned to? Damn, scratch that, darn, her curiosity.

She heard Ken kick open a door before he pulled her forward once again.

"We're in the passage between the two buildings. They were owned by the same company and have the same layout. Keep close," he told her quietly. He wouldn't put it past one of the hunters to have snuck over here and lie in wait at the top of the stairway or the end of the passage. He didn't sense anyone ahead in the passageway, but he was still relieved when they emerged into the other basement and he sensed no one there. With Kaoru along, he would've had to flee back the way they'd come and take his chances in the fire if the hunters had thought to check the other apartment building. He led her through the basement, picking his way carefully around looming shapes in the dark. She was totally blind. When they reached the foot of the stairs, he decided he needed to be sure no one was waiting at the top. They would be vulnerable if he blindly led her up the steps.

"Stay here. I'm going to make sure no one's at the top," he instructed, letting go of her hand. She didn't let go.

"Don't leave me," she said fiercely, grasping his cold hand.

"I'll be back," he assured her.

Kaoru let go. Ken had talked like there were stairs or something, but she couldn't see a thing. She didn't hear a sound, didn't hear him moving anywhere. What if he had left her? She'd wander around the basement in the pitch black darkness until she hit her head on something and got a concussion. Suddenly, she heard the squeak of hinges somewhere far away above her and then she could see murky shapes. Ken must have opened the door at the top of the stairs, which she still couldn't see.

A cold hand grabbed hers and she started.

"It's me." His voice came as he pulled and led her towards the stairs. Kaoru was surprised. She was relieved to hear his voice and feel his chill hand in hers again. It was now almost as familiar as her own, having guided her this far.

"Up the stairs now," he guided her, "…Last step."

"Where are they?" she whispered.

"I saw them trying to get the other apartment building burning quicker with more gasoline."

Kaoru wondered how he'd had time to spy on the hunters in twenty seconds. If he wasn't lying, then he must be fast, inhumanly fast. She followed his lead down the inky hallway and out into the night. The sky had clouded over. His grip on her hand tensed.

"I'm going to run now."

He told her a split second before he started, dragging her with him.

The world passed by in a blur and Kaoru knew this was faster than any human could run. So vampires had God-like speed. She filed the information away in the back of her mind. For now, she actually found herself enjoying the experience. She knew if he let go of her hand now, she would land with her face in the dirt and probably a few loose teeth. It was a still night, but at this speed, she felt wind flitting across her face and whipping her clothes. He stopped at a Pathfinder parked on the side of the road. As she predicted, she went flying forward, but Ken hooked an arm around her waist, so she abruptly stopped short of falling.

"This is the car." He released her and pulled a set of keys from his jeans pocket. He slipped the key in the passenger door, which they were standing beside, and opened it for her.

"Get in. I don't want anyone seeing the overhead light."

Kaoru climbed in. She'd been taught to never get in a car with strangers. Not in the car, where the psychos overpowered you and tied you up so you'd be still while they drove you to your doom. A pleasant basement perhaps. Or a handy secluded spot in the woods. The possibilities were terrifying. But she had no alternative. Who knew what Enishi and the other man would do now that they'd caught her associating with their vampire. So Kaoru climbed in. Ken shut the door quietly and walked around the front of the car to the driver's side. She watched. He opened the driver's side door and shut it soundlessly.

"You're taking me back to my house now, right?" Kaoru asked. She heard a slight whine in her voice. She wanted this to be over, wished vainly that it would be over. She had a feeling it wasn't going to be that simple. Life never was.

He buckled his seat belt and started the engine. He'd had the foresight to park the car pointed away from the apartments, so he didn't waste time on a three-point turn. He wasn't looking at her. She knew he wasn't taking her home.

"No. The hunters will go there next. You'll have to stay with me for a while." He drove the car onto the road and mentally reviewed the list of people within a few hours drive whom he could trust enough to leave Kaoru with while he went to feed.

Kaoru twisted around in her seat to see if the apartment building really was burning, to make sure that part hadn't been a trick just to get her in the car. While she couldn't see the building, she could see a flickering orange glow that lightened the sky in the fast growing distance between them and the building. It made her feel a little better. Unless Ken was in league with the hunters and they'd planned the whole thing. She turned back around in her seat, still on edge. She'd made the wrong choice, getting in the car. She wondered if she'd live to correct her mistake.

"They can't possibly be there yet," Kaoru pointed out. "And I don't have to stay with you. I'll stay over at Tae's or one of the other waitresses' houses."

"Did they talk to you at the restaurant?" he asked.

She watched him warily. "Yes."

"Then they'll question the people who work there first. I don't know what they'll do if they find you. I can't let you go. You're a liability. I doubt we have time to go to your house and pick up some clothes. I'll buy you some clothes tomorrow night."

Did psychopathic murdering vampire rapists worry about whether you had a change of clothes or not? Oh God, she hoped he wasn't a rapist.

"Are you flipping out?" Ken asked, glancing over at the young waitress to discover her eyes wide with panic. He understood that. He was going to have to take her away from her life and into his, and the transition was never smooth. He considered dropping her off at a friend's house and telling her not to go to work for a few days. But it wouldn't work. The hunters could find her easily enough by connecting with the waitresses and telling them Kaoru was missing. The whole town would be on the hunt for her.

"Do you have any local friends you could stay with for a week?" he asked, before she could reply.

Kaoru shook her head. "They're all away taking summer classes or abroad or doing internships in other states. This was the summer I was going to work all the time, because it's just me and Sou, and he's gone to Japan now."

"What about relatives?"

He frowned as she shook her head again. "My parents are away on a two week cruise and my family is from Virginia."

He couldn't take her back home. He could drop her off at the nearest police station, but the hunters had influence with the chief members of the police department. They had to in order to assure that occasional vampire remains discovered by witnesses didn't make it into the news. Ken decided the big city would be the best. The hunters would hang around the Philadelphia area for a while, but there were plenty of vampires with connections who owed him in New York City. He could call in a few favors to take care of Kaoru.

"We'll go to New York then."

"What!" Kaoru exclaimed.

"We're going to stay with someone who owes me," he told her at the same time as he decided in his own head. "It's safe for both of us there. It's a three hour drive. Settle in."

"I can't just leave," Kaoru spluttered, "I don't know you! How do I know you won't get hungry and decide I'm a nice snack?"

Ken was tired. Her blood would be just the thing he needed to get them safely to the city without having an auto accident, just a small pick me up. By the time they got to New York he'd be drained of energy and weakening by the second, but Kaoru would be extremely hard to deal with forever after if he tried to overpower her. He'd been wondering what she thought of the vampire issue. In the basement she'd seemed to accept it, which he found surprising. He knew he'd have more of a reaction if he found out unicorns were real.

"I told you in the note to take off work. Your boyfriend is in Japan. Your parents are on a cruise. Your friends are out of town. Who is there to miss you?"

Kaoru realized with a jolt that he was right. Her parents had said they'd call every few days, but if they didn't connect, they would simply assume she was out. And even if they did get worried and called Tae at the Akabeko, Tae would tell them that she'd taken a few days off, which was understandable, considering she'd been working over forty hours a week. And if Sou or her friends called, they'd assume she was at work. No one would notice her disappearance, not until it was too late. She got the feeling Ken had set her up.

"How did you know Sou went to Japan?" Kaoru demanded.

"I heard him mention it to you. My people have more sensitive hearing than a human's."

"That was a private conversation!" Kaoru fumed, although she realized that if what he said was true, then she couldn't know for sure if he'd listened in on purpose. "Just drop me off at the police station. I tell them about the hunters, and if they don't believe me, I'll just sit there."

Ken shook his head. "The high up people in the police force are involved with the hunters. You're safer with me for a few days."

Kaoru remembered the call that Tae had made to the police station and how the sergeant there had vouched for the two hunters. Most likely, he wasn't lying. Unless this was one big prank for a show like 'Candid Camera' and they were all in it together. Great. Now she was imagining conspiracy theories.

"Will you give me your word that I'm safe with you?" she asked. She had no clue what the word of a potential psychopathic murdering vampire rapist was worth, but unless she was willing to dive out of the car, which was currently speeding along the freeway at a merry sixty-five miles per hour, she was going to have to settle for his word. For now at least. "You're not going to suck my blood or anything, right?"

"I am hungry," he said.

Kaoru shivered.

"But I promise you're safe with me. No one's going to suck your blood."

He rolled his eyes as he said it, as if vampires were beyond sucking blood, and she felt a little silly. She had liked Ken before she found out he was a vampire and that she was going to be stuck with him, completely at his mercy for at least a couple days. She hadn't been wrong before, not when it came to liking good people. But it appeared it was time to stop trusting her feelings, if simply liking a person was going to result in abduction and/or possible torture followed by death. And she still wasn't all that sure that he was a real vampire. Weren't there crazy wannabe vampires out there who went around sucking people's blood, hurting people, just for kicks?

"I don't like this," Kaoru said.

Ken said nothing.

_- _

_Why are we taking the train? Those things are evil.  
It's called technology. You better get used to it; you're going to be in this world for a while.  
I heard trains suck your soul out and that's how they run.  
Don't believe everything you hear.  
I still have a soul, right?  
I'm not sure. I've heard it said that we lost ours, but no one really knows. I'm not too optimistic.  
Oh… we my as well take the train then._

-

The parking garage was empty at this hour of the morning, so after Ken turned off the car engine, he watched the regular rise and fall of her chest as she breathed in her sleep. He was tempted by her. The hunger was getting to him. He had to get her safe inside so he could hunt before the sun rose in two hours. If he didn't feed tonight, he'd be too weak to help her when the sun set. And Kaoru would need his protection, in the company of the vampires he was about to bring her into. But these people owed him, and he trusted their leader more than any other vampire in New York. He wanted to trace the side of her face with his finger, just once, but the silver cross earrings glinted menacingly at him in the dim light. He shook her by her shoulder instead.

Kaoru mumbled something intelligible and slowly opened her eyes. She smiled at him, because that's what you did when you saw someone, even though she felt sticky and sweaty from sleeping in the car for a few hours. Although she was scared and angry at him, she had to admit, he wasn't that bad a face to wake up to. Then she remembered why she was angry with him and scowled, sitting up in a hurry. "Where are we?" she asked, looking out the windshield and her passenger side window. She blinked the grogginess from her eyes and shook her head to clear out the cobwebs.

"In the parking garage of an apartment complex in New York City, the best place on the east coast to stay anonymous. One of my people lives here. He owes me. He'll take us in for a night or two. Get out of the car."

Kaoru yawned, unbuckled her seatbelt, and did as he'd requested, walking around to the other side to meet him as he stepped out of the car. Couldn't they have hidden well enough in Philadelphia? She would have argued, but Ken didn't look like he was in a mood to be questioned, and she still had no reason to trust him, so she decided to hold her questions for the time being. The man had saved her from the burning building. No doubt it wouldn't have ended well if it wasn't for him. Then again, it hadn't ended, had it?

Kaoru had only been to New York twice, years ago in high school for a couple Broadway plays. That was her first disadvantage. Ken was also bigger and stronger than her, and the parking garage was deserted. She had no choice but to go along with whatever he told her for the time being. She'd taken plenty of self defense classes. She could hold her own for the time being, especially since he visibly needed some sustenance. She was glad she'd been asleep while he was driving, otherwise, she might have had a heart attack, seeing someone so weak at the wheel of a car.

"Let's go," he said firmly. He was obviously putting on a show of strength. He led the way towards the apartment entrance as Kaoru followed a few steps behind. She watched, surprised, when he pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. Since when did vampires get cell phones? She wondered what his minute plan was and how he got the money to pay for it.

"Aoshi… I need a place to stay. I'm calling in the favor you owe me… You're right, you do owe me more. I've got a human with me… She's not for you… Yes… It's good they're gone then. What about your wife?... You'll have time to break it to her then… See you in a minute." He pocketed the phone and held open the door for her. Kaoru worried that she could hold off two vampires if they decided to attack her.

"The elevator," Ken instructed her. The doorman merely nodded once in Ken's direction. Ken didn't bother to acknowledge him.

Kaoru pressed the up button. What had that last part been about her being 'for' this Aoshi character? She hadn't liked the sound of that. The elevator came and she walked in. Ken pressed the button for the top floor. She was growing more apprehensive by the second.

Ken took her hand. Her dark blue eyes widened in surprise.

"This will let Aoshi know you're with me," he explained. "I'm not hitting on you."

"I didn't think you were," Kaoru replied uneasily. What would 'Aoshi' do if she wasn't with Ken?

The elevator doors opened on an alcove with one door. Ken stepped out, and Kaoru moved with him. The doors slid shut behind them. Ken knocked on the door. Kaoru was glad he didn't let go of her hand, especially when the door was opened by a tall vampire with jet black hair, icy blue eyes, a perfect face, and a chill about him that surpassed even Ken. This pretty much ruled out the possibility that Ken was working with the two hunters. She doubted this was a conspiracy that extended to New York City, although she'd fallen asleep in the car. She didn't know for a fact that they were in New York at all. She'd only seen the parking garage. They could be in the town next to hers, for all she knew. She'd have to look out a window as soon as possible.

"It's been a long time," Aoshi looked at their joined hands. "Here's a key to the apartment so you can get back in. I'll lead the girl to a room where she can sleep."

Kaoru normally protested when she was being spoken of as if she wasn't there, but there was something about this man, no vampire she felt instinctively, that kept her silent. She watched as he handed Ken a key.

"Thanks, Aoshi." Ken turned to her. "Stay here." He let go of her hand.

She didn't let go of his. He was the only person she knew in this whole situation, the only one she'd liked instinctively. What if Ken had been the person to deliver her, the one who was supposed to drop her off? She could imagine Aoshi torturing someone. "But Ken-"

"You're safe here," he cut her off. "I'll be back in a couple hours. Follow Aoshi to the room you'll be staying in."

If he was only the delivery person, then he wouldn't come back. But if he left, then it would only be her and Aoshi. And whoever else lived in the apartment, the penthouse suite, Kaoru realized. It was hopeless. She sighed and let go of Ken's hand. "I want to know what's going on." The words sounded plaintive to her ears.

"I'll tell you tomorrow night," Ken said, turning away and pressing the elevator button. Kaoru turned and watched as it slid open and he stepped in. The doors shut. He was gone. She turned to the man he'd called Aoshi, expecting to encounter his icy stare, but his back was towards her.

"Shut the door and follow me," he commanded.

She was tempted to run for the elevator, but Ken was in it. It wouldn't have any chance of coming back up for at least a minute. She didn't think she could hold off Aoshi for that long. At this point, she had to hope that she could trust Ken. Kaoru was good at hoping, at believing in people. She prayed to God that her initial good feelings about Ken had been right.

Then she did as Aoshi had ordered. He led her down a hallway and into a bedroom. Was now the moment? The moment when she was going to get raped?

"You can sleep here," Aoshi said. He shut the door and his footsteps walked away back down the hallway.

Kaoru locked the door behind him. She couldn't sleep now. She had to stay alert until Ken back, as she believed he would, because she'd decided to trust him. She was rested from the car ride. Waiting up wouldn't be hard, especially since he had to be back by dawn. But the bed was big and it looked comfortable, so she decided to lie down for a moment. Sleep took her before she knew.

_- _

_Have you ever been caught in the sun?  
Yes.  
Why?  
When I was first turned I couldn't believe it was true. I stayed in the sun to prove to myself it wasn't. It burned.  
I did something like that when I was first turned too.  
Oh yeah. What?  
I tried to eat garlic.  
That was dumb.  
Yeah._

-

Kaoru was startled awake. She heard someone breathing shallowly next to her. She scooted to the other side of the bed and turned on the lamp. A teenage girl stood in the middle of the room, light from the open door seeping in behind her. Correction- a teenage girl vampire. Her fangs were down. Her eyes were hunger. Kaoru wanted to scream for Ken, but as in a nightmare, she couldn't say anything. Her eyes were locked on the girl's.

"Just a sip," the girl whispered, reaching a hand forward wistfully. She reached the side of the bed and climbed up on it. "Just one." Her focus was now on Kaoru's neck. Kaoru still couldn't scream. She watched in horror as the girl softly trailed a finger down her neck.

The girl didn't notice the cross earrings until one brushed her finger. Kaoru heard a sizzling noise. The girl's finger was burning where the cross had brushed her. Kaoru felt her mind slip out of the trance as the girl jerked herself away with a frightened gasp. They screamed simultaneously. Kaoru grabbed the nearest weapon, which turned out to be the bedside clock, and ran to the far corner. The girl backed away towards the door. Kaoru pressed her back into the corner and held the alarm clock ready in case the girl tried to attack her. The girl was still screaming. Aoshi burst into the room, turning on the lights. As soon as the girl saw him, she ran to him and buried herself in his arms.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm such an idiot! I didn't even see the silver cross earrings!" she wailed. "Forgive me, Aoshi!"

Aoshi glared at Kaoru and swept out of the room with the girl, shutting the door softly behind them. The girl's wails receded down the hallway. She hadn't made any friends there. She thanked the Lord that her mother had bought her the earrings for her birthday.

_- _

_Don't drink too much from humans.  
Why? I thought that's what your kind is supposed to do.  
Our kind. And no, don't. If you do, you'll go crazy with bloodlust. I'll be forced to kill you.  
Kill me? I'm already dead.  
There are ways. You know the traditional ones. Just limit yourself to once a month and drop the attitude.  
What am I supposed to eat then?  
Animals. We can't risk exposure, or the humans will catch onto us._

-

Alexandra opened the door and immediately latched onto him. "Ken! You haven't been here in forever. Jeez, you're real pale. How long have you gone without blood?" she asked worriedly. "You'll still have control, won't you?"

Alexandra Taylor was reassuringly human, one of the contacts he could depend on. She was hooked to the experience of a vampire's 'kiss' as most contacts preferred to call it. Ken had come to her because it was easier to use a human than to find a wild animal in the city. He wasn't partial to rat blood. It had been frustrating sitting next to Kaoru for hours and not being able to nourish himself with her blood. Even though he'd fed on human blood a couple weeks ago, he needed more to resist the temptation Kaoru was and keep his promise not to hurt her. There wasn't much risk of him flipping out and drinking Alex dry anyway. He had more self control than that.

He returned her embrace and buried his face in her short, soft hair, breathing her light human scent in his nostrils. "I'm fine Alex, just thirsty," he murmured into her hair. "Are you going to let me in or what?"

She pulled back a little and smiled up at him. "Of course I am, as long as you promise to make it fun. Are you spending the rest of the night too? I have a room for you to sleep where the daylight won't seep in."

"No. I have to get back in an hour or two," he told her. He liked Alex, but he didn't trust her.

"Oh. Well that's fine then," she agreed, looking only a little disappointed and grabbing both his hands to lead him in. She reached past him to shut the door and he was in her apartment again. It hadn't changed much, still earth toned walls, furniture. It looked like she'd been going over some paperwork at the table.

"I'm fresh. I haven't seen anyone for about a month now," she continued. "I'll only charge you one hundred because you're my favorite customer. Why don't you hang around Queens more often?" she pouted, watching as he dug a couple fifties from his wallet.

"You know the city bores me," he replied, handing her the bills.

"I don't see how. You just have a short attention span," she argued, taking the bills and slipping them into the purse sitting on the counter.

"What can I say? I've been around too long," he shrugged, eyeing her neck.

She laughed, noticing the direction of his gaze and grabbed his hands once more, leading him to the bedroom. "Let's work on spicing it up a little bit," she said suggestively, dropping a heated kiss on his lips once they'd reached the bedroom. It was an unspoken agreement between vampire and victim that sex and blood went together. Ken returned the kiss and let his hands travel over her warm body, unzipping zippers and pulling off clothes, letting her do the same to him.

-

**A/N -**** Don't let Alex tick you off. It's really not worth your time. I hope the first chapter inspires a reading of the second.  
-Aryanne  
**


	2. Stolen

Disclaimer - I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Sad, but true.

A/N - Wow everyone. Thanks for the 18 responses. I really appreciate it. And now, without further ado, here is the long awaited chapter two. Wow. I rhymed, 'two' and 'ado', lol.

  
Silver Cross - Chapter 2 - Stolen  
  


_I didn't know they actually liked it.  Is there something wrong with them?  I wouldn't have let anyone do that to me while I was human._

_            It's a pleasing sensation for them, like a drug.  They say it leaves them weak and tired when it's over, but once they've tried it, they're addicted._

_            Where do you find these crazy humans?  _

_            What do you mean?_

_            I never would've tried it in the first place if I was them!  It's sick and I feel horrible when I do it.  They beg me to do it._

          _You have to keep on living._

_            Yeah, but this isn't my idea of living._

          This time Kaoru was right in her conviction that she couldn't sleep.  It was five a.m. when she started to doze, only to hear footsteps treading down the hallway.  She prepared herself for another bloodthirsty vampire.   

          It was Ken.  He looked much better than he had all night.  He had more color to him, giving him the appearance that he was human.  Where before he had had an unhealthy pallor to his cheeks, they were pinkish, as if he'd just come if from the cold.  His eyes held more life and seemed to have taken on a warm violet tone instead of the customary hard amber she was used to.  His long red hair now had a healthy sheen to it.  He seemed to positively glow with warmth, power, and energy.  He looked concerned when he saw Kaoru still sitting curled up in the far corner.

          "Are you alright?" he asked, softly, walking over to her.  "Aoshi told me what happened."

          "I'll live," she replied, staring up at him with wide eyes, half awed at this transformation.

          "I'm sorry.  I didn't know she'd come back before Aoshi or I had the chance to explain you to her."

          "Who is she?"                             

          "Get up and I'll tell you."  He offered her his hand.

          She let go of the clock and took it.  It was warm and human.  She didn't want to know who or what he'd fed on.  She let him lead her over to the bed and sit down with her.  She wondered if she was in shock.

          Held her hand, stroking it as he talked.  "That girl is Aoshi's wife.  They've both been vampires for one hundred and thirty years.  They're from Japan.  Aoshi was turned after he almost died in a battle.  He told Misao.  She decided she couldn't live without him, so he turned her few years later, once she'd grown old enough.  They're one of the few couples I know of that have made it that long.  They both head the Oniwaban group, ex ninjas who want to continue with their skills even after they've given up their human life.  Forgive Misao.  She's just a little impulsive.  We don't get to feed on humans much.  It's bad for you."

          Kaoru was slowly coming out of her shock.  His hand caressing hers was sending a warm feeling through her whole body.  "Why is it bad?" she asked, gazing into his eyes.

          "It'll drive you crazy until you want only human blood.  You'll wind up killing a human.  Vampires like that have to be eliminated."  He explained.

          "Why couldn't I yell or move or anything when I looked at Misao?  I knew what she was trying to do.  I should have defended myself."

          He chuckled.  "Vampires have a hypnotic stare.  You must have looked into her eyes for it to take effect."

          "Why haven't you done that to me?" she asked.  "I've looked into your eyes more than once."

          "Don't think I haven't been tempted to," he said in a teasing tone.  "Some have more control over a human than others.  Misao happens to have great control."

          Kaoru suddenly remembered she'd been angry with Ken before he'd left.  "I'm not mad at you anymore, Ken.  What would be the point?"

          "Good.  Now go to sleep.  The sun's rising in a half hour and I want to talk to Aoshi before it does rise.  We'll go shopping for clothes tomorrow.  I know you must want to change them by now, but that's impossible."

          "It's okay."

          "Don't try to leave the apartment while we're asleep.  Aoshi's got a top notch burglary system.  Nothing gets in or out.  You can explore, get something to eat, watch tv, whatever, just don't try to leave."

          "I get it," Kaoru said irritably.  "You don't have to tell me twice.  What did you do to get all healthy again?"

          "I fed."

          "On a human?"

          "No."

          Kaoru scrutinized him.  "Okay.  I guess I'll get some sleep now."

          He let go of her hand.  He still wanted her.  He'd thought feeding on human blood for another night would quench that thirst, but apparently it hadn't.  So much for the theory that sex was the cure for everything.  He hadn't even felt satisfied afterward.  He even felt bad about lying to her.  Since when had he felt bad about lying to anyone?  

          "Good night then."  He said, then leaned forward because he couldn't help it.  Just one stolen kiss wouldn't change anything.  She closed her eyes and tilted her head towards him questioningly, as if waiting for a good night kiss.  He gingerly placed his lips on hers, wishing he could stroke her face, but he couldn't risk touching the silver crosses, even though a burn would heal during his sleep.  If this was to be his one stolen kiss, so be it.  

          She'd placed her hands lightly against his chest as if to hold him back.  It felt like they'd burned an impression there through his shirt.  He probed her lips with his tongue and her mouth was open to him.  He plundered it, tasting her emotions on her breath, memorizing the contours forever in his mind.  He pulled back when he knew she needed air.  She opened her eyes and stared at him, breathing heavily.

          Kaoru couldn't believe it.  She'd just kissed another guy, even if he wasn't technically human.  And she'd actually liked it!  She didn't even know him!  She felt instantly sorry that she'd betrayed Sou.  What would he think if he saw her like she was now?  Wearing dirty jeans from running through a cobwebby basement, hot and sweaty from running and fear, day old clothes wrinkled from curling up in a car and on the floor.  

          She wondered if Ken saw anything in her or if he was just playing with her.  She wouldn't put it past him.  He didn't seem like the most compassionate guy.  He could just be buttering her up so she would take off her earrings and then he could get a bite out of her.  Kaoru felt instantly sorry for thinking that about Ken.  Even if he was cold mannered and a vampire, he wouldn't do that.  At least, she was pretty sure he wouldn't.  She wondered if he'd kissed her so she didn't feel dumb.  She had been the one to close her eyes and tilt her head up first.

          Ken watched with an appalled fascination as the emotions flickered across her face and into her eyes.  Horror, guilt, doubt, suspicion, guilt again, then embarrassment.  They settled on uncertainty.

          "You-you didn't kiss me because you felt you had to, did you?" she asked nervously.  "I mean, I did close my eyes."  She licked her lips apprehensively and didn't look at him.

          "No.  I wanted to," he told her softly.  "I'm sorry," he apologized, tilting her head up with his finger under her chin so he could meet her eyes.  "I know your boyfriend is important to you."

          She bit her lip.  "Sou is.  But when we kissed, it felt so different.  I can't explain it."

          He remained silent, a finger stroking her chin.  The ball was in her court now.

          "Promise me you'll get me home in the end," she demanded.

          "I promise," he said.  He was surprised to find that he fully intended to carry that promise out, even though it meant losing her forever.  But what was he thinking?  She wasn't even his to lose.

          "Then kiss me once more before you go, will you?" she asked wistfully.  She wished she was able to tell him off, to yell at him for doing it, slap him, to be more loyal to Sou.  But all she could do was ask him to do it again.  What was wrong with her?  She stopped thinking about it and closed her eyes.  This time she opened her mouth as soon as their lips touched and let herself enjoy the french kiss.  She wondered if the french had really invented it.  She touched one of his canine teeth with her tongue.  It was sharp, she tasted blood before he licked it away.

          "I'm sorry," he murmured against her mouth, tongue tracing her lips.

          "You already said that."  She broke away to say.  

          His mouth was back on hers, tongue  violating every part.  Sou had never kissed her like this.  She wondered why.  Then she stopped thinking of Sou, only of this mystery in front of her.  When he pulled away her lips felt puffy and bruised.  He dropped a last light kiss on them and stood, backing away from her.

          "If I don't leave now, I'll never talk to Aoshi.  I'll see you tomorrow night, okay?"  He told her softly.  "Try to get some sleep."

          Kaoru just nodded and watched as he turned off the light and shut the door.  His footsteps receded down the hallway.  She was alone with her thoughts.  The guilt came flooding in.  She found she was too tired to care.  She climbed under the covers, dirty clothes and all.  She slept.

          _Why do we get so tired when it's almost light?  I wish I could just see the sun one more time._

_            That's just the way it is.  Stop whining to me about it._

_            I know you want to see the sun again.  Maybe they'll invent something that lets you._

_            Why would they?  They're all human.  All they have to do is go outside.  Besides, you're afraid of technology._

_            I knew you were bitter about it.  It's in your voice every time I talk about the light.  I swear I'll never get as cold as you toward life._

          "Why is she here?"  Misao asked, curled up on the couch next to Aoshi, as Ken walked into the room.

          "She has no other place to go for a few days.  I'll take her back when I'm sure it's safe," he assured her in a neutral tone, seating himself in a chair across from the couple.  "I am sorry I had to impose on you."

  


          Aoshi smirked, leveling his piercing sapphire blue eyes on him.  "I'll bet you are.  You know I wouldn't let you keep her here unless it was you calling in a favor."

          "I wouldn't have called it in if I had a safe house in the city."

          "Yeah, you would have saved the favor for something bigger,"  Misao put in.  She leaned forward.  "Tell me what you're keeping her for, Ken.  You could have dropped her off at a human police station and they would've protected her.  What's so special about her?"

          "I admit I am curious," her husband requested.

          Ken sighed inwardly.  While he might have managed to deflect Misao's question, he couldn't refuse his hosts when they asked so plainly.  They were the two vampires with the most power on the east coast of the US.  He imagined in another age, they would have been a ruling king and queen.  Aoshi sat there on the sofa, customary cold look on his face, with his mate by his side.  Even for as powerful a vampire as Ken was, their request was a command.  He would have to confide in them enough to satisfy Misao's curiosity.

          "You both know I am bored with this existence," he began the explanation.

          Misao nodded and Aoshi inclined his head slightly.  Ken took that as a yes.

          "I came across her when I was letting the hunters get close to me for a little distraction.  She's a waitress at the place I ate for a few nights.  I-"

          Misao leaned towards Ken excitedly.  "She caught your eye and you fell madly in love with her.  Just as you were going to sweep her away to a sleazy hotel for a tasty, um, snack, the hunters caught up to you and you had to flee away into the night.  That's what happened, right?"

          "You haven't really changed.  Of course it's not," Ken said scornfully.

          "Sure it's not," Misao said knowingly.  "Anyway, I want you to know that I don't hold a grudge against Kaoru about what happened when I came home.  I was tired and she was just too much of a temptation.  I only went back there for some extra sheets . . ." Misao drifted off for a moment.  "I'm going to apologize to her and try to win her over tomorrow night.  She's not too broke up about it is she?"

          "No," Kenshin answered, willing Kaoru not to be too broken up about it.  He glanced at Aoshi, who was clearly not happy about his wife's decision to forgive and forget.

          Misao continued on, ignoring his discontent.  "Good.  I was just coming back from feeding, so it's not like I need the blood anyway.  Aoshi tells me you were in pretty bad shape when you brought her in, almost beyond the point of feeding yourself.  You must have a lot of will power to resist taking a sip of her.  I'm glad we're allies, Ken," she finished, standing.  "Now I'll leave you two men to discuss things."  She kissed her husband on the cheek, nodded to Ken, and slipped away.

          Aoshi waited until she couldn't possibly be within hearing range, even for a vampire, before he spoke.  "Why are you in New York?"

          "I guess you wouldn't believe me if I said I was just dropping in to see you."

          Aoshi simply gazed at him, true iceman that he was.

          "I'm here for information.  This is a great city for that as you no doubt know."

          "So then you're still after him.  I don't appreciate you coming here and endangering my wife, Ken.  I told you not to come back until you were over defeating him."

          "He doesn't know my whereabouts.  I'll only be here for a couple nights.  You and Misao are perfectly safe, even without the rest of the Oniwaban here, you know that."

          "Nonetheless, I don't like it.  You'll have to get out ASAP."

  


          Ken sighed silently.  He'd known it would come to that.  "I will.  I'll make arrangements to leave tomorrow night and we'll be gone the next."

          "Thank you."  Aoshi had the grace to say.  "You know I'm not happy that I have to kick you out."

          "I know and I understand, Aoshi.  Killing him is not a personal thing for you and you would rather keep Misao and the Oniwaban safe."

          "You understand my thoughts then."

          "Yes.  They would not be opposed to fighting him.  Are you sure they would appreciate your reasons?"  Ken asked.  He felt he had to bring that truth to Aoshi's eyes, even though it would have no effect on his decision.

          "I am aware." Aoshi frowned.  "But I am their leader and I know what's best for them.  Let's not argue this issue.  We've been over it too many times."

          "Fine.  It's time to sleep anyway."  Ken gave in.

          "And none of this conversation goes to Misao."  Aoshi ordered, standing.

          "Understood," Ken agreed, standing as well.  "How have things been going between you two lately anyway?" he asked, dropping the formal tone.

          Aoshi sighed, barely audibly.  "We are fine.  She'd headstrong as always, but I still love her."  He walked to the door as Ken followed.

          "That's good.  You two are lucky."  

          "I know.  You could settle down with someone and be just as lucky you know."

          Ken laughed.  "It's not my thing, Aoshi.  I doubt a woman could keep me interested for the rest of eternity, or until a hunter catches up to one or both of us."

          "Very well.  I know you won't even consider the idea, but I still say you should meditate on it."  Aoshi advised gravely as they exited the room.

          Ken followed him down the hallway with a groan.  "Don't start on meditation with me, Aoshi.  I've tried it and it's helped me about as much as it's helped Misao stay quiet."

          "Whatever, Ken."  Aoshi muttered.

          _You can't go out in the sun anymore.  Instead of birds, bats will be the only creatures to grace the sky when you're awake._

_            I won't forgive you for this._

_            You sound like a small child.  Get hold of yourself.  You are twenty-three and I saved you from death.  You should be grateful._

_            I will survive on my own eventually, and you won't ever hear from me again._

_            Is that so?  Well until the day comes when you have contacts, people you can go to for shelter from the day, I'm afraid you're stuck with me._

_            Why am I so tired?_

_            The sun's about to rise.  It's your own body protecting yourself._

Kaoru was at high school graduation.  She was dressed again in her rented white robe with the gold tassel dangling in her right eye, holding her diploma.  She was finally graduated, slipping through the masses, saying goodbyes to all the class mates she'd never see again.  Where were her parents?  There was her dad's head up above the crowd.  She pushed her way towards him, but the crowd refused to part.  He was walking away, gone, but there was Sou.  He pushed his way towards her, but one of his buddies stopped him.  He gave her an apologetic look and turned away.  Then Ken stepped in front of her.  She started, what was he doing out here in the evening light?  Wasn't he supposed to be asleep.  The rest of the world slipped away around them and he pulled her tight to him.  She hid her face in his chest from the receding world that was ebbing away like the tide.

          Kaoru woke up with a start.  Daylight peeped in under her closed eyelids, cranking them open.  Light came in through the drapes.  She groaned and rolled over, picking up the alarm clock that she'd left on the floor by her bed the night before.  She gazed at the red digits blearily.  4:16.  Ken would likely have her up until dawn again.  She tried to go back to sleep.  It didn't work.  She remembered that she was in New York City instead of home and bolted upright.  A vampire had brought her here.  So it hadn't all been a dream.  She'd half wished it was.

          She decided to explore the apartment, find the kitchen, then find the shower.  Hopefully they had a washing machine and dryer around here somewhere too, her clothes smelled all sweaty.  She wondered if vampires used deodorant or if they at least had any lying around for after her shower. . .

          __

_            We've got a big battle on our hands here, men.  May you all come through it with your life._

_            How close is the enemy?_

_            Battousai.  Only you would address me without the proper rank.  They should be here in a matter of minutes.  May God be with you all.  Dismissed._

          As always, when he first swam to consciousness he heard the sound of his mother's voice singing him an ancient lullaby long forgotten by all but him.  Then her voice faded away and he was caught in a panic because he could not wake up quickly.  He fought to open his eyes, the conviction that his past enemies were gathered around him ready to drive swords in and out of his flesh growing in the back of his mind.  But he could not move or open his eyes for twenty minutes, and he knew the sun was setting.  Then, as the last slivers of light faded from the sky, he could open his eyes.  He stared up at the ceiling.  The air was a great weight.  He couldn't move under it's pressure.  It seemed a wonder his lungs weren't crushed.  But then again, he didn't really need them to breathe.  Then the sun must have completely set, because in the space of a minute, the air thinned and he could move again.  

          Ken sat up and probed his surroundings with his senses.  There was noone in the room but him, no enemy crouched in the corner about to rush him.  No faces leering from the shadows.  He knew someday there would be, or else he simply wouldn't wake up because they'd found him in his sleep.  It was the fate that befell all vampires sooner or later.  An enemy or an incautious friend was the death of them.

          Ken probed farther.  There were Aoshi and Misao a few rooms away, growing accustomed to their surroundings like he was.  And there was Kaoru, on the other side of the apartment.  He shouldn't be able to sense her.  She wasn't one of his kind.  He hadn't been around her long enough to know her smell, her energy signal.  But there she was, heartbeat regular.  Then he remembered the blood.  He'd tasted the blood on her tongue.  It shouldn't have been enough to form a link, but there it was, a thrumming chain of energy between them.  He hadn't meant to create a link, he must have done it subconsciously.  Now he'd really have to bring her along.  She could be a useful link in the chain to his revenge.  He decided he'd take her with him tonight and hoped she'd had the sense to get enough rest.

          _Please, join me for a drink.  I'm sure you'd enjoy some sake._

_            I don't have time for that.  Don't you know who I am?_

_            Battousai the manslayer.  Just a human._

_            What's that supposed to mean?_

_            Join me and you may find out. _

          "It's Friday night.  There's not that much on," a friendly voice said from behind where Kaoru sat on the couch, flipping channels.

          Kaoru started.  There had been no sound besides her own movements in the penthouse apartment since she'd woken.  It must be one of the vampires.  She turned around on the couch to the doorway behind her.  It was the girl from last night.  In the light Kaoru could see that she was actually a young woman, although Ken had told her that she was over one hundred and fifty.  She walked around and sat next to Kaoru as close as if they were friends with all the grace of a ninja and more besides.

          She laughed.  "Well I admit I had hoped I hadn't scared you that much last night.  Aren't you going to say hello?"

          "Hi," Kaoru said warily.

          The female vampire sighed.  "I know I've done nothing to earn your trust, but I am not going to hurt you.  I'm sorry about last night.  Will you accept my apology?  It's been so long since I talked with a human," she finished wistfully.

          Kaoru hoped she was earnest.  She wondered where Ken was and why he wasn't here.  He'd asked her to forgive this 'Misao' though, and she thought she should trust his judgment.

"I forgive you," Kaoru said softly.

          "Really?  Great!"

          Kaoru couldn't help but perk up a bit at her enthusiasm.

          "So tell me how you wound up with Ken then," she requested, settling down as if for a good ghost story.

          Hesitantly, Kaoru started with the first night she'd seen him.

          _Were you ever in love with her before she turned you?_

_            I thought I was._

_            It's good you know you weren't then._

_            I didn't say that._

_            But you meant it.  She still around?_

_            I don't know and I don't want to know._

Aoshi was waiting outside the door when Ken came out into the hallway after having cleaned himself up in the adjoining bathroom.

          "Misao's been with your female since she woke, talking.  I won't be very happy if she forms an attachment for the girl," he informed Ken as they walked down the hallway.  "But it's probably already happened."

          Ken smirked.  "Just hope she doesn't want to go and visit her or anything once I return her back to her home."

          "So then you are returning her.  We had wondered."

          Ken glanced up at the taller man.  "There's no cause to wonder."

          "I disagree.  You haven't involved yourself with anyone in a while, Ken.  I can't stand listening to Misao moan about how she wants to find you and cheer you up.  This girl could be good for you.  But since you obviously don't want to consider that possibility, I'll let it slide."

          "Gee, thanks, Aoshi," Ken replied sarcastically, following Aoshi into the living room where Misao and Kaoru sat on the couch, a television show droning in the background.

          "Oh look, Kao, it's the big dumb men," Misao snickered.

          In came Aoshi, tall and imposing as ever.  Kaoru wondered if he ever lost that calm look in his eyes.  She rather doubted it.  If he ever did, his wife probably wouldn't know what to do with herself.  From what she'd told Kaoru, she took great pride in trying to crack his facade, but Kaoru thought she rather preferred it.  It certainly counteracted her bouncy, impulsive nature.  Kaoru had never expected that she'd describe a vampire as 'bouncy', but it was true.  The girl was the total opposite of Aoshi and Ken, but Kaoru knew she held great affection for both.  

          And there was Ken, just behind Aoshi.  Her heart caught in her throat and she held her breath for a moment.  How would her react?  He simply sat down in a chair next to Aoshi, nodded to her, and turned his attention to Misao, who was certainly commanding it.  Kaoru started breathing again and her heart slid back down her throat.  So he was going to act like nothing happened?  Well she could deal with that.  Then she wouldn't feel guilty whenever she thought of Sou.

          "What did I do to deserve that?" Aoshi was asking meanwhile.  He didn't seem angry or the least bit frazzled by his wife's attack on his intelligence.

          "If you weren't dumb you wouldn't have to ask, Aoshi.  And Ken's dumb for a completely different reason, but I can hardly call him big," Misao scolded her husband, flashing Ken a smile.

          Aoshi rolled his eyes and closed them to meditate.  Kaoru thought he seemed very good at tuning out the world.

          "Well you're not going to be very happy with what I tell you next then," Ken put in.

          "Then don't tell me.  Life was peachy keen until you and that big lug of a husband came in here.  Just leave me to talk with my girl."

          "You've been talking for twenty minutes and she's already your girl?"  Ken asked dubiously.

          "Yup!  I bet I know more about her than you," Misao challenged.  Kaoru wished Misao wouldn't bring her into this.  They looked like they'd been accustomed to arguing with each other for quite some time.

          "What's that supposed to mean?"

          "That you're an inconsiderate bastard who doesn't know how to treat a lady."

          Kaoru was shocked that she dared to call him that.  She was even more surprised at Ken's relaxed response.

          He laughed.  "Are you listening to your wife, Aoshi?"

          There was no reply.

          "Guess I'm not getting any help from him.  What's so bad about how I treat a lady?  I don't see any here."

          Misao jumped up from her seat on the couch.  "You've got a lota nerve, Ken!  Someone needs to come along and knock some sense into that thick skull of yours!  Aoshi, ask me any question about Kao.  I bet you I can answer it and you can't, Ken.  And we'll do best of five.  If I win you better give Kaoru a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

          "What happens if I win, and what makes you think I don't respect her?"

          "You haven't even said one word to her today.  That's not very respectful."

          Ken inclined his head toward Kaoru.  "Hi."

          "That's not good enough and you know it!" Misao practically shrieked.  "Start Aoshi!"

          Aoshi jerked out of his meditative state.  "Favorite color?"

          "Turquoise."

          "Food?"

          "Grilled cheese sandwiches."

          "Drink?"

          "Chocolate milk."

          "Siblings?"

          "No."

          "First cousins?"

          "Seven on her mother's side, Twelve on her father's."

          "That wasn't fair!" Ken protested.  "Get up, we're going out," he ordered Kaoru, rising.

          "Oh no you don't!  You didn't even ask her if she wanted to go with you and you can't get away with this, Ken!"

          "She's coming with me whether she wants to or not, she's not under your protection."

          "But you are both under my roof and I say to ask nicely before I get really angry."

          Ken narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance.  Arguing with Misao was all well and good but this was getting ridiculous and it was taking too long.  He stood.  "Would you like to come with me?" he asked Kaoru, giving her the most commanding look he could muster that told her it was not a choice.  Despite whatever trash Misao had filled her mind with, he was the one in charge of her.

          Kaoru stood quickly.  She didn't like the friction that was starting to build between Ken and Misao, and who couldn't help quaking under the look Ken was giving her?  She wished he'd lighten up again.

          "Sure," she managed, then remained standing awkwardly.

          Misao apparently knew when she was beat because she gave a huge reluctant sigh.  "Fine, Ken, stay a stubborn idiot.  What were you going to tell me before?"

          "We will be leaving tomorrow night."

          Kaoru looked at him quickly.  Was he taking her back home tomorrow night then?  Surely the hunters wouldn't be hanging around still.  She wanted to sigh with relief.  Living around Ken was exhausting, and she hadn't even really done anything but let him drag her around.

          "Figures," Misao muttered.  She strode past them both.  "I my as well lead you to the door then.  I had planned on spending the night with Aoshi having a little fun with the rest of the Oniwaban gone anyway."

          Ken and Kaoru followed her to the door in silence.

          "Good luck, Kao," Misao whispered as she walked out the door.  "I hope you both return safe and sound tonight."

          "Thanks," Kaoru replied.  She heard the door shut softly behind her.  She was rather glad to be out of there.  She didn't really know what to make of the female vampire, although she seemed sincere enough.  It was nice to be away from the flurry of her actions.  Hopefully Ken wasn't taking her anywhere too exciting.  She didn't want to have to fear for her life again anytime soon.  If anything, the trip promised to be quiet.  He hadn't said a word since they'd left the penthouse apartment and didn't look likely to any time soon.  Wherever he was taking her, it was going to be a long night.

          _How's Megumi?_

_            Married with children and ten years older.  It's not fair._

_            No. . .Did she see you?_

_            Yeah.  She was making a __midnight__ delivery so I dropped in to walk her back._

_            You still love her._

_            How can I not?  I hate this_!  _I should never have left.  I could've worked on her, she would have come around and let me change her._

_            It's too late now._

_            I know that!  Let's go._

_            Now?  We've only got two hours left._

_            I have to get out of here, have to get on the move.  I can't think about her anymore._

_            No.  We'll leave tomorrow.  We'd be stuck in the woods if we left now._

_            I know a cave.  I'm leaving.  You never loved a woman like I love Megumi.  You don't understand.  She cried and I cried.  When's the last time I cried?!_

_            Fine then._  _We'll go._

          "A department store?" Kaoru asked from behind as he walked in, jolting Ken from his thoughts of Sano.  It had been a quiet ride from Aoshi's apartment building to a parking garage downtown and a quiet walk through the thickly populated streets.

          Ken didn't bother to reply.  If he walked in, then surely she could tell that was where they were going.  Kaoru seemed to get the hint because she didn't say anything else.  He strode up to the counter and the male desk clerk that looked like he had something stuck up his butt and demanded to see Kamatari.

          The clerk didn't even look up.  "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not a messenger boy.  How am I supposed to know where he is or even what floor he's on?" the man asked in an annoyed tone.

          "Then page him.  I want him down here now," Ken said, annoyed, letting a threat creep into his voice.

          "Are you threatening me, sir?"  He asked, looking up and meeting Ken's eyes angrily.

          Kaoru saw Ken use his the hypnotic stare that he'd told her all vampires used.  While she couldn't see his gaze since his back was to her, she clearly saw the effects on the man.  His gaze went dreamy and as if in a haze, he reached for the pager device spoke into it.  His voice sounded calm and normal.

          "Kamatari to the entrance desk.  Kamatari to the entrance desk."

          "Thank you," Ken said, voice icy cold once more.  He must have released his hold over the man because he suddenly looked angry and flustered, but remained silent, opening a magazine and doing his best to ignore them.

          Since Ken simply stood by the side of the desk, Kaoru thought it wise to remain silent.  She wondered who Ken needed to talk to in a department store.  She wasn't very happy with the way he had distanced himself from her so completely since the night before.  He was being jerkish and intimidating and she knew that he knew it.  What had made him this way?  His talk with Aoshi?  Had he simply reevaluated her situation and decided she was just an appendage to keep around until he found the time to take her back?  She felt lost and alone and naked standing there without her purse.  It would have been at least some comfort.  She wasn't used to the city and didn't like it in the least.  

          Kaoru took stock of her resources if Ken were to abandon her.  She had only about fifty dollars and a few ID cards in her wallet.  Then there were the clothes on her back.  Not much resource unless she could somehow find a branch of her bank.  She could always rely on Misao if the female vampire wasn't hungry and if she could get to Misao without running into Aoshi first, but then Kaoru realized she didn't even know the address of the apartment building.  But she had to do something instead of follow this alien Ken around the city.  He only talked when he had to order her to do something, and even then he didn't look at her.  Just as Kaoru had decided she may as well tell Ken that she was going to make it on her own and simply walk out, surely the hunters had given up interest in her by now, the strangest man walked out of the elevators to her left and walked towards Ken with a smile, arms open.

          "Why hello!  I had a feeling it was you!" he exclaimed, moving to hug Ken.

          Ken held a hand out in front of him and gave him the coldest glare he'd managed yet in Kaoru's opinion.  "No hugs."

          The man looked disappointed and slowly dropped his arms.  "Aww, Ken-nii, you're so gloomy," he pouted.  Then he noticed Kaoru staring openly at him and grinned.  "Oh, do you like the outfit?"  He gave a twirl, showing off his black sleeveless form fitting suit with thin white pinstripes and black high heels.  "Bought it at Boscov's for a song."  It was a decidedly feminine outfit.

          "It's cute," Kaoru said sincerely.

          "Are you with Ken-nii then?" he asked with his hands on his hips, ignoring Ken, who rolled his eyes.

          "For now," Kaoru answered, not daring to look at Ken.  She knew he'd wonder what she meant by that.

          Meanwhile, the male cross-dresser who was very actually prettier than the average female, had drawn closer to her.  "Hmm.  Do I sense a little tension here?  Well don't worry, hon, I'll take care of you."  He flashed her a smile.  Kaoru could see his fangs for a moment and she knew he'd shown her on purpose.  She hoped Ken wouldn't leave her alone with this guy.

          Kaoru made a weak effort to smile back and then he turned back to Ken.

          "Are you sure I can't give you a hug?  It's been so long, sweetheart," he asked.

          "No.  I need you to outfit her with clothes for any situation.  Money is no object.  Also suitcases to fit all the stuff and a few outfits for me.  No clothes like last time."

          "This'll be fun, but I don't even get an explanation?  You know I'm curious, Ken-nii."

          "I'm not telling you anything.  I'll be back in an hour.  Don't mess with her," Ken threatened, turning on his heel and walking out the door.

          "Well!" the man huffed.  "He's certainly not in the best of moods."

  


          "No," Kaoru agreed.  She wished he would stop taking her places and leaving her alone.  She didn't suppose he planned on taking her back anytime soon if he was going to pay for a whole bunch of clothes.

          The cross-dressing man seemed to remember she was there and turned to her, surveying her up and down.  "Well finding clothes for you will be fun, anyway."  He grabbed her hand and dragged her merrily towards the elevators.  "You've got a nice figure.  I wish I had those hips.  Hmm.  Should we start with a swimsuit so I can see what size you are?  Yes, I think that would be best."

          "Um.  I hardly think Ken's going to take me swimming!" Kaoru protested.

          "Nonsense!  You might have to go undercover at a beach party or something.  If you do, we need to make sure you look good," he gushed, pulling her into an empty elevator.  "So how did a yummy thing like you end up with Ken?  You're not one of his contacts."

          Kaoru didn't like being referred to as 'yummy' by anyone, and especially by a vampire.  Why couldn't Ken take her to someone who was human?  And what was a contact anyway?  "It's a long story," she said cautiously.

          "Oh I love a good yarn.  You can tell me while I'm outfitting you."  He pushed a floor button.

          "Will you tell me what a contact is then?"

          He looked surprised.  "You mean you don't even know what a contact is?  Girl, now I have to know your story!"

          "Promise you'll tell me then?" Kaoru asked.  She knew that if she was going to be hanging around Ken she needed to know more about vampires and how they operated.  It certainly didn't seem like he was going to tell her anytime soon.  She wished he would loosen up.  Things would go a lot easier for both of them if she knew what she was supposed to do and how to act around all these vampires she was meeting.

          "I promise, hon!  You can trust me word.  Oh forgive me!  That bastard, Ken, didn't even both to introduce us.  He doesn't know how to treat a lady!  My name's Kamatari."  He held out his hand.

          Kaoru took it.  Hmm.  That was the second person this morning that had called Ken the b-word and said he didn't know how to treat a lady.  "Kaoru Kamiya."

          They shook.  The elevator door opened.  Swimsuits galore lined the walls and adorned the racks.  Kamatari didn't let go of her hand, but pulled her out of the elevator.  "This is going to be so much fun!" he squealed.

          _You haven't figured out what I am yet, Battousai?_

_            A beautiful woman who always seems to find me at night no matter where I am._

_            You don't need to know anymore?_

_            Don't look so sad.  Don't I make you happy?_

_            Yes.  Fun to play with.  My new toy._

_            You dare to speak of Battousai the manslayer as a toy?_

_            Yes.  Now what are you going to do about it?_

"Why it can't be!  I haven't seen you around here for some time, Ken!  How's my favorite idiot vampire?"

  


          "Not so loud, Katsu.  I don't want you broadcasting the fact that I'm in the city until I'm gone."  Ken glanced around the tourist shop, giving each customer a glance.  None were vampires that he could sense, but if one had just fed he or she would give off a mostly human scent.  He might not detect the truth until they came within five feet of him.

          Katsu nodded.  "Sounds fair enough.  So who's your business with?  Me or the Sekihoutai?"

          "I need to talk to you, ask you a few questions."

          The black haired man nodded.  "Follow me into the back room then.  The clerks can handle my shift for a few minutes."  He walked from behind the counter and into a door marked 'Employee Only', not bothering to be courteous and hold the door open for the other man.

          Ken sighed and walked in after him, following him down a lit hallway and to an office at the end.  Katsu sat behind a desk, motioning for Ken to sit in a chair in front of it.  Ken sat.

          "So what up?"  Katsu asked, unconsciously pulling at the cloth of his long sleeved black shirt with one hand.

          "That's what I came here to find out.  What're the latest rumors?"  Ken asked, glancing around the office, scanning for places where an attacker could be hidden.

          "You mean about our dark leader?  Most say he's traversing Europe with a new woman, a hot chick but a frigid one as the tales go."

          "What do the rest say?"

          Katsu shrugged.  "That he's lying low in California, planning something.  Southern California, I'd start in LA.  But that's all I know about the issue.  Can't dwell on him too much, and I only tell people he's in Europe.  Don't want him to catch on to my whereabouts.  You still going after him, idiot?"

          "Yeah.  Any rumors going around about hunters?  The Jineh family's latest spawn hired Enishi to track me."

          "They're getting serious huh?  Nah.  Last I heard, he torched some apartment building in Pennsylvania.  That didn't have anything to do with you, did it?" he asked, leaning forward across the desk in his chair.

          "Why do you think they torched the place?" Ken smirked, leaning back his chair and crossing his arms.  He was satisfied that noone was lying in wait.  Paranoia of people or worse out to get him was the only thing that had enabled him to survive as long as he had.

          Katsu smirked back at him and leaned back in his chair.  "I shoulda known.  You gonna fill me in on the circumstances so I can make it really juicy when I spread the word around?"

          "Nah."

          "Didn't think so.  Fine.  Be a jerk.  Hey, I just remembered a lead I might have for you that you could act on tonight."

          Ken sighed.  Katsu was not the type to give away information freely, even to an old acquaintance.  "What do you want?"

          "That's more like it.  You know I only trade in information, but I've decided to start a small newspaper for vamps.  You know anyone in the city with the funds?" he asked idly.

          "You know I do."

          "Good.  So fix me up with the Shinomoris.  They'd get all the information before I published it and half the profits."

          "I'll have Aoshi drop by," Ken agreed, figuring Aoshi would be up to it and would count the Sekihoutai as a valuable asset.  The were the only fraction he didn't control in New York, although they certainly knew he was a force to be reckoned with and gave him the proper respect.

          "Great.  I'll hold you to that, Ken."

          "Tell me the lead."

          Katsu leaned forward in his chair once more.  "A couple of his gang have just landed in town on vacation and are hanging around this vamp night club.  They're pretty wild and hang around with six or seven human contacts.  Don't ask me how they got 'em when they've only been here a few days.  For all I know the contacts could have come with them because none of my usual girls have ever seen them before."

          "New York's a big place."

          "Tell me about it.  But no one's seen these particular female contacts before.  The two vamps are always on the lookout to recruit another human girl.  They're kept so well fed that they only take occasional sips and the girls can withstand it.  The two vamps have bragged about their leader a few times.  They'll talk easy if you were to persuade them.  But they're packing weapons.  No silver bullets, just ordinary ones.  A warning, you know?"

          "I know.  What's the club called?"

          "Shinta.  It's pretty high class, but I can get you in."  Katsu oozed confidence.

          "How about two people?" Ken asked.  A plan was starting to form in his mind.

          "Depends.  Female or male?"

          "Female."

          "It'll be easy.  You're a couple.  When did you start hanging around with a honey, idiot?  I didn't know one would have you."

          Ken glared at him.  "It's not like that.  She's human.  I can use her as bait."

          "I'm not sure that would be wise.  She could get pretty messed up with these guys.  She hooked?"

          "No."

          "Why are you with her then?  She have anything to do with the hunters burning that apartment down?"

          "You're good.  No," Ken lied through his teeth.  "Don't mention her for a few nights okay?"

          "I'll give you two.  Shinta's on the outskirts of Manhattan, around the docks."  He reached into his desk and pulled out a couple VIP cards.  He tossed them to Ken "How long are you going to be in town, idiot?  We should hang out.  Talk about old times."

          Ken pocketed the cards in his worn jeans.  "I'm leaving tomorrow night if my contact's still dependable.  And I can't talk about him with a clear conscious until I kill the dark one, Katsu."

          "He wouldn't want you risking your life all the time like this, Ken.  How many close calls have you had in the past ten years hunting for the dark one?  About as many as you had in your whole life since you became a vampire?"

          "I can't just settle down, not while he's alive."

          Katsu shook his head.  "I know I'm noone to give you advice-"

          "Then don't," Ken cut him off, standing.  "I know you were more his friend than mine, but we've always been okay with each other.  Don't ruin it now.  Thanks for the information.  I'll be sure to fill my end of the deal and tell Aoshi.  Goodbye, Katsu."  Ken turned and left the room.

          "Goodbye, Ken," Katsu said with a heavy heart, watching his friend's form disappear around the corner.

          _Ken, this country is real weird.  Why did we come here again?_

_            You wanted to be where it's warm._

_            I know, but the natives all wear grass skirts and they don't care that there's a volcano on their island._

_            Different cultures do different things.  I'm not going to try to figure them out._

_            You're just bitter because they put all those flower necklaces on you and all the women fussed over how cute you were._

_            You don't know they were saying that!_

_            Oh please.  It's cause you're little that's why._

_            I'm not little, I'm stocky.  Now go away and play with the island girls again or something._

_            Ken, Ken.  Why is height such a sensitive issue with you?_

_            Shut up._

"Kamatari, do you mind if I ask you something?" Kaoru asked as she modeled shoes for him, walking back and forth along a runway.

          He lifted his gaze to her eyes mildly.  "Why I suppose it depends on the question, honey.  But come down here, I think that pair is stylish enough."  He reached up for her hand and guided her down the steps.  "Ask away," he instructed as she sat down to take off the shoes.__

"What are contacts and why did you think I was one of Ken's?"

          "Oh, is that all you wanted to ask me?" he giggled.  He turned to a nearby clerk.  "Send those boxes down to the front desk with the others I sent earlier," he instructed, gesturing to the ten shoe boxes.  A few pairs for Ken, but the rest for her.  He waited until the clerk had gone.  "I couldn't say anything in front of him.  He doesn't know I'm a vamp.  Might play havoc on the job."

          Kaoru nodded and scooched over as Kamatari sat down daintily next to her.

          "A contact is a human that one of my kind can depend on for a meal."

          "You mean you suck their blood on a regular basis?!"

          Kamatari shrugged.  "Well they like it."

          "How can they like it?" Kaoru asked, confused.

          "It's something about when the fangs sink in.  They secrete something that gives the person who's giving the blood a pleasurable feeling.  It's like a drug.  Once they do it three times . . . They're hooked," he explained.

          "Why would they do that in the first place?  No matter how good it feels, I still can't imagine just standing there while the blood is drained from my neck!"  Kaoru shivered.  "It's not right."

          "Oh come on, hon.  It's not like vampires drink human blood all the time.  Just about once a month.  You can't risk getting too hooked on it.  And besides, there's a certain sexual experience that goes along with it usually."

          Kaoru blushed.  "You mean you have sex with them and suck their blood during it!?!"

          "Well yeah.  It does hurt when the fangs first sink in.  That takes away the pain and human women can't get pregnant or diseases or anything."  Kamatari noticed that Kaoru was blushing fiercely.  "Oh don't be so modest, honey!  Or are you still a virgin?" he teased.

          "Of course I am!  How could you think I was Ken's . . ."  She paused to shiver.  "Contact." 

          "My mistake, sweetheart, but you have to admit, he is attractive.  Not gay though."  Kamatari sighed.

          Kaoru wondered what else she'd missed out on so far?  There were gay vampires.  Wonderful.  She imagined Ken with one of his contacts, and quickly cast the image from her mind.  Kamatari was a talker, and she had to get as much information out of him as she could.  "Why can't you drink human blood too often?"

          He gazed at her sadly.  "Although it is the best for us, it'll drive a vampire crazy if he or she drinks too often.  They won't be able to keep control over their drinking and they'll end up killing a human.  We were all once human, sweetie.  It's an unspoken law that any vampire who can't control their drinking must die.  And since it's not known whether we have a soul, that's a heavy punishment indeed."

          "Everything has a soul," Kaoru said softly.

          "Then why does the sun shun us, hon?  And why can't we go in Christian churches?  I'm afraid we can't be sure."  He shook his head.

          "Have faith."  Kaoru hadn't quite foreseen herself as a vampire spiritual leader, but she felt for this person.  He had been human once.  What could he have done to deserve this kind of existence?  Always hiding from the day and hunters, living off others blood to survive.  There were few animals in the city.  She shuddered to think what he was forced to feed on.

          "Kamatari? . . . How did you-"

          "Why are you both sitting here on your butts?  I thought I told you to get her outfitted, Kamatari," Ken's voice broke in.

          _. . . become a vampire?_

Kaoru looked up.  Ken strode over to them from the elevators, looking as authoritive as always.  She remembered what a contact was and found herself angry with him.  How dare he kiss her when he had sex with people on a regular basis?  And different people from the sound of it!

          "Don't boss him around.  He's been doing what you asked," she said crabbily.

          Ken raised an eyebrow.  "So you got your voice back.  What's eating you?"

          Kamatari seemed to snap out of his depression because he bounced up and walked over to Ken, dragging Missy along with him.  "Oh Ken-nii, Kao-chan and I had a very wonderful conversation.  She's an exceptional girl.  May I be so lucky some day."  He teased Kaoru with a suggestive glance.  "I'm glad you're back though.  You didn't tell me what clothes you wanted or what you both want to start out the night in."

          "I'm taking her out to a night club."

          Kamatari's eyes lit up.  "Ooh!"  He turned to Kaoru and studied her frame.  "I'm visualizing a long slinky dress with a slit up the side -"

          "No.  She might have to run.  Make it short."

          "Woah!  Run!  I better be wearing some shorts under there."

          "You're both such party-poopers," Kamatari pouted.

          "I'm the one that's paying for all this," Ken reminded him.  "Just get us both some clothes and then I'll be arranging to send the rest to the Shinomori place.  I'm not carting them across the city with me."

          "Why might I have to run, Ken?" Kaoru asked again, not liking the sound of Ken's plan one bit.

Well let me go down the list of wonderful reviewers.

Fiery Shadow - JML - Sorbet - PEACH ^_^ (Don't worry, it is a Kenshin/Kaoru fic - Videl621 - Haroku 1 (I am really flattered that you think this is such a great vampire fic!) - Nicolette - Hitokiri-miao miao(you'll find out the side stories eventually. I just didn't want the story to be about Misao and Aoshi. It's all about Ken and Kaoru!) - kouri - bitchy brunette - anime=^.^= - Angel Kitty2 - Brooke(It's not my first fanfic, just my first Kenshin on, lol) - Neko Oni-chan(you're right, Kenshin does make an uber cool vampire!) - lil-miss-kitsune - Migo - The Girl Who Cried Oro

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful reviews. Sooo . . . I hope people review my second chapter too *hint hint*. And I really hope you enjoy reading it. 

Click that button!


	3. Party in the Club

**A/N - Sorry I haven't updated for a week guys. College is a real bummer. Well the social stuff is fun, but the studying sucks. And my computer caught a virus from the oh-so-safe college internet network. The inhumanity! So once I got THAT straightened out I looked over at the calendar and realized that it'll be a week since I updated. Sorry! Oh, and another author by the name of 'The Raven Dark Angel' discovered this story and was inspired to start a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic of her own. I was very touched. *sniff *sniff Without further ado, here's the latest chapter!**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of those alcohol brands I mentioned.**

**Silver Cross**

**Chapter 3 – Party in the Club**

_I met another vampire today.  _

_            Why are you telling me this?_

_            What he said was pretty interesting.  He's in a group called the Sekihoutai._

_            I've heard of them.  Why do you expect me to care?_

_            I'm sick and tired of just floating around like this.  I'm going to join._

_            What?_

_            You'll be okay without me.  You didn't want me around in the first place.  I'll be protecting people this way._

_            Sano -_

_            I don't want to change the way you live.  You helped me through Megumi and that means a lot to me.  We're buds, but I need a purpose._

          "Ken, I know you're not taking me to this club just for the fun of it.  If there's going to be running then why do I have to come along?"  Kaoru asked in the car.

          "I don't have anywhere else to put you," Ken lied.  He needed her to be the bait, but how could he tell her that?  She would certainly refuse to go along with the plan and his cover would be blown.

          "That's a load of bull!  You left me at Aoshi and Misao's place and didn't have any qualms.  You left me with Kamatari!  I would be perfectly happy staying with one of them."

          "Kamatari's at work.  Who knows where Aoshi and Misao are this time of night?  It's early.  Besides, it'll be less suspicious if a couple shows up than one man."

          "What are you after?" Kaoru asked shrewdly.  Before she knew it, Ken would have her mixed up in some weird vampire war or something.  She certainly didn't want that.  What if they came after her one night after Ken had taken her back home and left again?

          Ken sighed.  "Just information."

          "I think you're using me as bait or something.  This is a vampire club isn't it?  Am I going to be the only human there or am I supposed to pose as one of your contacts?" she demanded.

          Ken was surprised she knew what a contact was.  Kamatari the cross-dressing blabbermouth had probably told her.  The guy was a sucker for attractive humans, rather they be male or female; and she was beautiful.  But Kamatari sure knew how to dress her.  He doubted any male would be able to resist her for long, and for vampires the fact that she was human merely added to her appeal.  Her hair was out of the messy bun he'd always seen her wearing and it cascaded down her back like a waterfall.  He knew that if he reached just beyond it, there would be her smooth warm neck. . .  The high collar, skin tight dress was doing wonders for her appearance too.  The material was red with a black sheen just under the surface.  The dress was beautiful and she was the just the person to wear it.  Kamatari had spritzed just enough jasmine scent on her so that it appeared she was older and more sophisticated than her years.  He didn't think either of them would have trouble with the age issue when it came to getting into the club.

          "Ken, you're not answering me," she prompted in a testy tone.

          "Fine.  I'm using you as bait, but I'll be right there the whole time.  Just cooperate."

          "Only if you tell me what this is all about SOON.  I deserve to know what you're getting me into, Ken.  If you don't tell me I'll be gone.  I can get away from you in the day and you know it."

          Ken sighed again.  "Fine.  Tomorrow night we'll have some spare time and I'll tell you everything then."

          "Promise?"

          "I promise.  Why's everything a promise with you?"

          "Get over it.  I hate wearing this dress, and I could kill myself on these heels!  This is a nice matching purse and all, but what if I lose it in the club?  Ah!  This dress is way too short," she fussed.

          Ken rolled his eyes and pulled into a space a couple blocks away from the club.  He'd passed it three times, checking the place out and Kaoru hadn't even noticed.  He hoped she'd be more observant when they actually got in the place.  He couldn't keep an eye on her every second.  She needed to be able to take care of herself.

          "Oh, we're here?  Yich, the docks.  Where is the club anyway?  I hope it doesn't smell like fish," she continued fussing.

          Ken sighed, shutting off the car, pocketing the keys, and walking around to the other side to let her out.  He opened the door and reached a hand up.  She was unbuckling her seatbelt, checking her face in the rearview mirror.  Ken wondered how it would have been if they were just a normal couple heading out for a night in the city.  He watched silently as she finally turned to him, accepted his hand, and stepped down from the pathfinder.  He felt horrible for putting her in this danger, but that didn't change is actions.  He felt even worse for not taking her back to the Shinomoris and just risking it on his own.  But he was determined to go through with what he'd started.  Now was not the time to back down.  He wondered why he couldn't bring himself to say her name since that first time in the restaurant.

          Kaoru felt revealed and phony in the dress and heels that brought her to just under Ken's height.  Since her hair was down, it clung to her neck, making her feel hot already.  She was distracted as he shut the door behind her and beeped the car alarm on.  Just what types of vampires hung out in clubs anyway.  She supposed the ones she'd met weren't all that bad, but if there were horrible humans, then surely there had to be equally as bad vampires.  And what if she ran into a vampire that had gone crazy on human blood and he decided to suck her dry?  But Ken was here, she told herself.  And he had promised that she wouldn't be a meal for anyone.  And hopefully the word of this particular vampire was good.  

          But still, what if she was attacked in the bathroom?  Kaoru scoffed, she could at least defend herself until help came.  But what if a vampire caught her in one of those stares like Misao had?  She rummaged around in her new purse and found the cool shades Kamatari had insisted she bring because they matched her whole outfit and gave her an older, cool air.  She was relieved to feel Ken slip an arm around her waist and start walking, but upset, remembering what Kamatari had said about what vampires did with their contacts.  As if noticing something was up, he looked down at her.

          "What's with the shades?  It's night."

          "I don't want to get caught in anyone's mesmerizing stare thing."  She shuddered.

          "Well at least wait until we're inside to put them on."

          "Why?"

          "I can't see your eyes," he said simply, reaching over with his free hand and plucking them off her face.

          Kaoru thought that was a sweet thing for anyone to say and didn't protest.  He slipped them into his dress pants' pocket and pulled out a cell phone.

          "I'll give them back to you once we're inside.  I think that'll make a good impression on the customers.  Here's a cell phone I bought for you incase we get separated.  My number's keyed in already."  He showed her how to work the phone, then handed it to her.

          Kaoru studied the phone, a Motorola, higher quality than the one she had at home.  She slipped it into her purse.  "Thanks,"  

          "Now we're supposed to be a couple."  He took her arm and pulled it around his waist.  "Let's pull this off.  Lean into me as we walk," he instructed, drawing her close to him.  It was exhilarating being this close to her with a valid excuse.  He could enjoy the benefits and not take any grief for it later.  He was pleased that she acquiesced and they walked the two blocks to the club doors without incident.  Strains of music with a heavy beat drifted out.

          The bouncer at the door was a big man, clothed in black.  Leather pants and a black wife beater.  He didn't look like he was having the greatest night and looked at the couple with interest and malice barley concealed in his expression.  His voice was hard as steel shards.

          "I let you in, I get dibs on your girl," he said flatly.

          "Get out of my face, asshole.  She doesn't want you," Ken spat out in disgust.

          "Who are you to tell me that, wimp?  She's the first contact to come by that's not with the dark one's men.  I'm just calling her before anyone else does.  I don't think there's much you can do about it."

          Ken smirked.  "You must be pretty desperate.  I know the others in there have their own contacts.  They won't mess with me, and you better not either.  This one's mine."

          Kaoru was fuming.  She didn't like being spoken about as if she was some object, and Ken had the nerve to call her his contact.  Like she'd ever go to bed with him!  Sure he was sexy and all, but he was way too cold and heartless and domineering and bossy and he was probably sexist and he'd slept with countless other women!  He'd probably lost track long ago.  And she didn't even know how old he was.  Sure he looked 'twenty-two'ish, but who knew how long he'd been a vampire?  But better he act possessive than let the sinewy bouncer take her and do who knows what.  She shuddered and leaned closer into Ken.

          "I don't see your name written on her."

          Ken gently tilted Kaoru's face towards his, so that her profile faced the bouncer.  He gently pushed her hair back with a finger, careful to avoid the cross earrings.  Kaoru wondered what he was doing, leaving her neck exposed like that.

          "F**k.  What's with the cross?"  The bouncer swore again.

          Ken smirked and brushed his lips across Kaoru's forehead just to spite the man.  He looked on enviously.  Kaoru didn't really mind.  She closed her eyes and smiled.  While the whole club scene was probably not going to be an enjoyable experience, the moment was.  She decided that she could deal with playing Ken's servant if it was going to make this vampire unhappy.  She was pleased when the man swore again.  Ah, revenge was sweet.  

          Taking his time, Ken reached into his left pocket and pulled out two cards.  "These should get us in anyway."  He casually tossed them to the man.

          The man scoffed.  "Yeah.  They do.  Had fun making a fool of me, didn't you?"  He glared, tossing the cards back to Ken.

          He dropped them back into his pocket.  "Yeah."

          The bouncer stood aside .  Ken repositioned his arm around Kaoru's waist and they walked past him and into the foyer.

          Ken heard him cursing under his breath.  He knew the cards Katsu had given him must have had some pretty powerful influence attached to them or the man wouldn't have backed down so easily.  It was a shame.  He would've liked to have some fun.  But it probably wouldn't have been the best way to start an undercover operation.

          There was noone in the foyer at the moment.

          "I don't like being treated like I'm your possession, Ken," Kaoru said heatedly, as soon as she'd determined that they were alone.  She pushed away from him.

          Ken's eyes widened, then narrowed.  "In here you are.  Or would you rather be someone else's?  Just cool it down.  I did what I had to do and said what I had to say to get us in here without suspicion."

          "I don't like being a contact.  It makes me feel like a slut."  Kaoru crossed her arms in front of her and glared at him.

          "Deal with it.  Just don't lose your cool or you might wind up dead."

          "How can you be so insensitive?  I should've listened to what Misao and Kamatari said."

          Ken was annoyed.  "What did they say?"

          "That you were a bastard who doesn't know how to treat a lady!"  Kaoru uncrossed her arms and punctuated each word with hand gestures.  "And that's not swearing because I'm quoting."

          Ken rolled his eyes.  So Kamatari was talking about him behind his back again?  At least Misao had said it to his face.

          "Don't roll your eyes at me, Ken!"  She had her hands on her hips not.  "This whole experience isn't easy for me and you make it even harder by not taking my feelings into consideration."

          Ken sighed.  "I wasn't rolling my eyes at you.  Don't talk so loud or someone will hear us."

          "Over that loud music?  I don't think even a vampire could.  I don't know if I can take this anymore.  The only thing that's saving me are these earrings.  Have you ever had your life rely on a pair of earrings before, Ken?  And you never even say my name!  Not once since that one time in the restaurant.  Do you even like me or am I just some human prize to show off to all your friends?"

          Ken moved toward her.  "Come on, cheer up -"

          She backed away.  "See?  You can't even say my name," she repeated.  "There's no reason for that.  . ." she trailed off.

          "If you don't get it together we're going to get found out."

          Kaoru took a deep breath and nodded.

          Ken handed her the shades.

          Kaoru slipped them on, feeling a little better now that noone could possibly see her eyes and read her expression.

          Ken offered her his arm and they walked into the club.

          _Do you really think I've turned sour on life?_

_            Sometimes it seems like that._

_            It's just hard.  I get so jealous of it._

_            That's why I try to love it while I'm hating it.  I know I could never turn anyone now.  I'd have hated you forever it you'd let me change Megumi._  _Did I ever thank you for that?_

_            No.  When did you grow up?  I feel like some mother whose chick has flown out of the nest._

_            Don't go getting all sentimental on me!  It's scary._

The club was beautiful, Kaoru had to give it that.  Huge traditional Japanese paintings graced the walls, but the dance floor was the first site to catch her eye.  It was the central focus of the room, huge and rectangular and filled with people.  The smooth wooden floor shone in the dim light and red and black balloons graced the ceiling above the floor, ties streaming down above the heads of the dancers.  Tables were set up along the left of the hall, with a bar in the far corner left corner and one in the corner just to her right.  A red carpet wound around the floor and the tables.  Private rooms marked by the clinking of glasses and cigarette smoke as thick as fog stretched along the far right of the room.  

          Ken led her to the right along the red carpet and helped seat her at the bar, her back to the dance floor.  She crossed her legs because that was the only thing she could do wearing so short a dress.  He slipped onto the stool to her right.  One of the bartenders, a young looking vampire, sauntered over to them.

          He nodded to Ken but addressed Kaoru.  "What can I get you?"

          Kaoru had no idea what she liked as far as drinks went.  She was still underage and had sworn never to drink.  Besides beer, she only knew names, creme de menthe, Chardonnay, bloody Mary, champagne, Grgich Hills, Cakebread.  Weren't those last two wine?  And then there was vodka on the rocks.  She decided it would be safe to just order water.  She wanted to be alert anyway, and alcohol dulled your senses.

          "Just H2O."

          He shrugged and grabbed a glass, pouring her some from a tap.  "Not a drinker?"

          "No."

          He slid it across the counter to her.  Kaoru was glad she caught it and didn't do anything dumb like spill it all over her.  That would've been perfect.

          "What about you?" the young vampire asked Ken.

          "7-and-7."

          The vampire raised his eyebrows.  "I would've taken you for something less simple."  He moved away towards the middle of the bar to mix Ken's drink.

          Kaoru took a cautious sip of her water, determined that it was in fact water, and watched the bartender over the rim of the glass.  What in the heck was a 7-and-7?

          Ken watched her watching the bartender mix the drinks.  She was too funny sometimes, really.  Anyone could tell she was young and inexperienced.  He wondered if she'd ever been in a club before.  He reached over and encircled her right hand with his left, forcing her to set the glass down.  He held her hand as she turned to look at him, lifting her shades for a moment, questions in her eyes.

          "A 7-and-7 is just 7UP, ice, and beer.  He's using a bottle of Seagram's 7 Crown," he explained just loud enough so only she could hear.  "I noticed you were curious.  I didn't want anything too strong."

          Kaoru blushed.  His hand felt smooth and warm, human.  He'd seen through her easily.

          "Now remember, while we're here, you're one of my contacts.  Can you live with that?"

          Kaoru smiled, glad that he'd changed the subject.  "I guess there are worse guys."  She let her shades slip back down over her eyes.

          The bartender slid Ken's drink over to him.  Ken nodded to him, reaching into his pocket with his other hand and tossing him a five across the table.

          Kaoru laughed.

          "What?"

          "Your drink stops in just the right spot when he slides it across to you.  I have to practically catch mine.  You're too smooth sometimes."

          Ken smirked and took a sip of his drink, not taking his eyes from Kaoru's shades.  "Yours would've stopped."  He sat the drink down.  "I'm looking for two guys that hang with six or seven contacts between them, maybe more.  They might be in a private room, but they'll head out here sooner or later so show off.  The first guy that asks you to dance, do it.  They'll eventually get around to asking you to be one of their contacts and I want you to be visible."

          "Why are you so sure someone's going to ask me to dance?  And why can't you just dance with me?"  Kaoru asked, confused.

          "Most of the clientele here are vampires.  There'll be on the lookout for a human.  Besides, you already stand out with the dress and shades.  And I'm not going to dance with you because I'm not the one who's supposed to be visible and they don't want anything with me because I'm a vampire."

          "I thought I was supposed to be your contact."

          "Vampires often share.  It would draw attention if I didn't let you dance with anyone else.  Just don't go in a private room with anyone.  The stairs to the second floor are back there."

          "There's not much love in the vampire culture, is there?" Kaoru asked sarcastically.  "No wonder couples like the Shinomoris are rare."

          "Forever is a long time to be around one person."

          "That's no excuse."  Kaoru was starting to get angry.  She was glad the shades were there to shield her emotions from the rest of the people in the club.

          "The sex and blood thing with humans doesn't seat well with spouses," Ken said lightly.

          "It doesn't seat well with me either, even if humans can't get pregnant."

          "How much more information did you get out of Kamatari?  I never told you that."

          "Nunya,"  Kaoru said obstinately.

          "What?"

          "None of your business.  You'll have to get it out of me some other time.  He only told me what you-" She turned to face him and jabbed him in the chest with her left pointer finger. "-should have told me in the first place."

          Ken sighed.  She was getting angry again.  But her admired her guts.  She'd probably dragged the information out of Kamatari.  He wondered if she knew how manipulative she had the potential to be when she wanted something.

          "Maybe I should have."

          "No maybes, Ken," she persisted.

          "Whatever you say.  Now just keep looking at me.  A vampire's coming over here for you.  Just dance with him and come back here to report to me when you get tired," he finished just as Kaoru felt a tap on her shoulder.  Ken released her hand and she turned to her left to face the vampire.

          She took a long drink of her water, knowing it would be dumb to drink it once she'd left the table.  Who knew what kind of drugs vampires slipped into people's drinks.  She studied the guy out of the corner of her eye.  He waited patiently until she'd finished and turned to face him fully, her back to Ken.

          "Would you dance with me, Miss?" he asked, openly looking her over.  His short brown hair was spike up with gel, in the way that was popular with young white men and teens lately.  He was dressed more casually than Ken.  Instead of dress pants like the ones Kamatari had outfitted Ken with, this youth wore designer jeans and a t-shirt.  He was obviously out to party and nothing else.  

          From the looks of it, he thought Kaoru was part of his party.  She resisted the urge to say no and add some stinging comment, glad that he couldn't read her expression for her sunglasses.  She smiled instead.  She'd have Ken's head for this.  Well probably not, but it made her feel better to think of revenge.  "I'd be happy to."  She smiled and let him take her hand and pull her off the stool.  He nodded past her to Ken and took her hand.

          "What's your name?" he asked loudly over the music as he led her towards one of the groups of steps that led up to the dance floor, a couple feet above the rest of the club.

          "Let's think of me more as a mystery.  One you're not going to solve tonight."  Kaoru said with a smile.

          "So I take it you're not going to tell me then," he joked.

          Kaoru supposed he thought he was cute.  Well he wasn't, and his hand was warm and sweaty.  So vampires were capable of sweating.  She knew he wasn't warm from exertion though.  He must've just fed.  Well at least he wasn't hungry.

          He led her up onto the dance floor and into the thick throng of people and vampires.  Several glanced at her in surprise as she passed by them.  There were quite a few hungry looks.  The vampire she was with, who looked to be in his late twenties but could be two hundred or seventy for all she knew, turned and started dancing to the fast beat.  She joined him, glad to lose herself in the music.  At least vampires had taste.

          _What's that?_

_            It's called a book, Sano._

_            I know it's a book!  I mean what language is that?_

_            English._

_            Why are you reading a book in . . . 'english'?_

_            Because it's the language of the future._

_            You don't think I'll have to learn it, do you?_

_            Eventually._

_            Damn!  Say something in 'english' so I know a few words._

_            Hello, I am an illiterate idiot._

_            Okay.  What did you just say?_

_            Hello.  How are you._

_            Okay.  Lemme try.  'Hello, I am an illegitimate idiot._'  _How was that?_

_            Even better than I said it._

          _Cool.  I think I'll try it on those foreign girls from some weird country called ' the us of a'._

_            You go do that._

          They were slow dancing.  The spiky haired vampire's hands rested lightly on her waist.  Kaoru let her wrists rest on his shoulders and her hands dangle.  Kaoru had decided he wasn't all that bad aside from the fact that he flashed his fangs at her occasionally and thought way too highly of himself.

          "So you wanna find a room upstairs and have some real fun?" he asked, pulling Kaoru close to him and trailing his hands south of the border.

          "I don't do that kind of shit," Kaoru said flatly, surprising herself.  She instantly made a mental apology to God.

          "Come on.  The guy you're with can't be that jealous.  We vampires are looser with our women than humans.  You know that."

          "I'm not doing anything with you.  Let me go," Kaoru ordered, trying to wrench herself away.  He was too strong.  She couldn't budge.  He didn't look like he was using too much energy.  Kaoru wondered why Ken always let her push away from him if all vampires were this strong.  Come to think of it, super human strength was one of the traits the legends attributed to vampires.

          "I could bite you right now and you'd like it.  All your kind does," he said so only she could hear.  "No one would think it was unusual.  Happens all the time."

          Kaoru reached back with her right hand and tucked her hair behind her ear.  The silver cross earring glinted dully in the dim lighting.  He froze.  Kaoru backed out of his arms, jostling another couple.  "You are never going to sink your teeth into this woman, and what's with the dissing of mankind?  You used to be human."

          He bared his fangs at her.  Kaoru could tell he'd prefer to rip her apart, but the cross daunted him.  "Bitch."

          Kaoru had been called a bitch before.  She found she didn't really care about it this time either.  She just smirked at him, turned her back, and made for an exit off the dance floor.  She was going to kill Ken!  He'd be watching her!  That line had been a bunch of bull.  But when she got to the bar, he wasn't there.  Kaoru found she wasn't surprised.  She sighed and took a seat on the stool Ken had been sitting on when she left.  The bartender, spotting her, came over and leaned on the counter in front of her.  He silently handed her her purse from under the counter.

          "Thanks."

          "No problem.  The guy told me to save it for you.  I would stay and talk, but you look pissed," he commented, not moving from his spot in front of her.

          "Where'd he go, the guy I was with?" Kaoru asked after a moment.

          "Some chicks grabbed him the moment you left.  He's on the floor," the man stated matter-of-factly.  "Chick magnet, that one."

          Kaoru turned on the stool to face the floor.  After a moment of scanning, sure enough, there was Ken, surrounded by three or four women who had to be vampires.  They looked a little too pale to be human.  The song had changed to a fast beat.  He looked loose on the floor, like he was having fun.  One of the girls saw Kaoru looking and winked at her.  

          It really ticked Kaoru off.  Here she was, avoiding getting the blood sucked out of her veins with a pair of sunglasses and earrings.  The guy she'd been dancing with had apparently thought she was a ho for free and the guy at the bar probably just wanted to go to bed with her too.  And the whole reason she was doing it was because she was supposed to attract some vampire jerks who also wanted to go to bed with her and suck her blood.  What in the hell was she supposed to do once she did get their attention anyway?!  And all for Ken.  She was NOT happy, and he had the nerve to be out there having fun!  He never looked like he was having fun when he was around her.  She turned her back to the dance floor, fuming.

          "You look even more pissed.  A drink'll mellow you out.  Want one?  It's on the house for a pretty one like you."

          That basically confirmed her suspicions about the bartender wanting to go to bed with her.  "No thanks.  I don't drink," she told him again.

          "Well alright, but you might need to get yourself a ride home from the looks of things.  I'm free."

          "No thanks," Kaoru refused, slinging her purse on her shoulder and sliding off the barstool.  God, what would her parents think if they saw her now?  She was glad they were on vacation somewhere in the Caribbean, hundreds of miles away from her.  She had half a mind to blow Ken's cover by marching up there to the floor and dragging him off, but he'd just be furious with her.  She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.  The women were throwing themselves all over him.  She sighed.  Who was she to ruin his fun?  She'd make his life miserable later.  She grumpily headed for the lounge where she'd seen a bathroom when they'd come in earlier.

          _Battousai, you're alive?  We left you for dead on the battlefield._

_            Is the cause achieved then?_

_            Yes.  The new government will be put into place soon.  There are only a few minor pockets of resistance._

_            Then you don't need me._

_            I wouldn't say that.  You'd be great in a government position.  I'll put in a good word for you._

_            No.  This part of my life is over.  I've done my duty to my country._

They were waiting for her when she stepped out of the bathroom, four male vampires.  The smallest, a wry thin man, spoke.  "Some guys payed us to get you, lady.  You're wanted in one of the private rooms upstairs.  You coming quietly, or do you want for us to drag you?"

          "So it's like that, huh?" Kaoru asked, wanting to buy some time to think of her options.  Ken had cautioned her not to let herself get tricked into going to the private rooms.  She didn't see that she had much choice in the matter.  If she flashed the earrings, it would cause a scene and blow their cover.  What if all the vampires turned on them then?  A pair of earrings would be no match to fend them all off.  Besides, the only way upstairs was the stairs in the main room, back behind the private rooms on the first floor.  They had to lead her to them by going back through the club.  She'd just have to hope Ken saw her.

          "Yeah.  It's like that," the man imitated.  He grabbed her arm and started to drag her into the club.

          Kaoru drew back her hair with her other arm and pointed to the earring.  "Hands off.  I'm coming on my own," she ordered haughtily.

          He rolled his eyes, but got the message and let go.  He turned and started walking into the club.  She followed, one of the guys in step with her, the other two behind.

          _What's wrong?_

_            Every time we_ _come here I have to visit Megumi, no matter how old she gets.  And she's always happy to see me._

_            So what's the problem._

_            It was like a blast from the past.  Her granddaughter answered the door._

_            So?  She turn you away?_

_            She's just the age Megumi was when I met her.  She looks exactly like her, same stuck up expression, same laugh too._

_            I'm sorry._

_            Thanks.  Megumi's doing good though.  Her husband died a few years back.  She looked pretty broken up about it.  What if the next time I visit her she's dead?_

It was nice being around women who weren't frustrating all the time.  Even when Kaoru wasn't moody, she was still exasperating to be around, simply because he couldn't have her.  She annoyed him because she was human and every physical part of him craved her blood.  She annoyed him because he was more attracted to her than he'd been to anyone in his whole life, both human and vampire.  And he couldn't have her.  So it was gratifying to be away from the stress she put on him, however unconsciously, and dancing with these women who expected nothing from him and didn't tempt him in the slightest.  Then he glanced towards the bar and saw Kaoru walking past it surrounded by tall male vampires.  And he knew she'd succeeded in attracting the right people's attention and was probably enormously pissed off at him.  As much as he didn't want to give up dancing and these girls he probably would've had a lot of fun with, he knew he had to.  He could never forgive himself if something bad happened to Kaoru.

          _You've got to help me!_

_            What's wrong?  Is someone in your hotel room?_

_            No!  The guy who gave me the room flicked on a switch and light came from these glass circles on the ceiling.  Oh no!  They're in your room too!_

_            They're called light bulbs.  What's the problem?_

_            The problem is they're not natural!  They probably run on your energy!  You've got to turn them off._

_            No. . . . Now we're in the dark._

_            Better that than having the energy sucked out of you._

_            Haven't you ever heard of electricity?!  Get out of my hotel room._

_            I'm just trying to save you -_

_            Goodbye, Sano!_

          "You know you're not the first man to hold me in a closed room to question," Kaoru said bluntly to the scuzzy looking vampire who sat in the chair next to her.  "And I doubt you'll be the last.  What do you want?  I don't appreciate being forced into anything."  She'd decided the best thing to do would be to play it tough and not show the fear that she felt.

          "Woah, woah.  Rest easy.  I'm just here to offer you a temporary job.  Just for the next two nights," he protested.  "No need to get your guard up."

          Kaoru laughed.  "I suppose you want me to be one of your whores then."

          "Actually no."  He reached in his pocket and for one crazy moment, Kaoru thought he was going to pull out a knife.  But it was merely a cigar and lighter.  "You want one?" he offered.

          "I can't stand cigars."  She declined impolitely.  "What do you want?"

          He took his time lighting it.  "I want you to be my buddies contact for the next two nights.  Pay's three thousand bucks an hour."

          "So you do want me to be someone's whore."

          "Yeah, but not mine.  You're a little rough around the edges for such a young lookin' chick.  My buddy'll enjoy having you around though."

          "Who do you work for that you can pay me and those other girls that much an hour?" Kaoru asked, pretending to consider the idea.  She wanted to get as much information out of this guy as she could, both for her sake and for Ken's.  She deserved to know what was going on.

          The man looked surprised at her question.  He puffed out a cloud of smoke in the shape of a hoop before bothering to answer.  "I thought that was why you came in the first place.  We work for the dark one.  We're on vacation.  Certainly did enough to earn it."  He muttered the last.

          Kaoru pretended she knew who the 'dark one' was.  "Yeah?  And I'm the queen of England."

          "You don't believe me.  I don't lie.  Well not a lot."  He grinned lazily.

          "No I don't believe you.  Got any proof?" she challenged.

          He extended the underside of his left wrist toward her.  There was a tattoo of a black dagger stabbing a heart that wept three drops of dark red blood.  The blood was the only color on the drawing.  "There's his mark.  You know as well as I do that noone would dare to fake one.  They'd die in three days.  The dark one would see to that."

          "I'm satisfied.  What do you want me to do?" Kaoru asked, mentally cursing Ken.  What had he got her involved with some crazy vampire gang lord for anyway?  He had a lot of explaining to do, assuming she ever saw him again.

          "You'd simply provide for my buddy physically.  You smell healthy.  I'm sure you could loose a little blood and be alright."

          "I happen to be attached to my blood, but what the hey?  When would I get paid if I accepted your offer?"

          "An hour before dawn each day.  You could start now if you want.  I've got a couple girls outside who would escort you to him.  You takin' my offer then?"

          Kaoru decided she could take a couple human girls, especially ones who were getting fed off of every night.  She stood.  "Yes."

          He gazed at her blearily.  "Good.  Then just step outside the door.  Rose and Morgana are two contacts like you.  They'll take you to my buddy."

          "Fine."  Kaoru exited, relieved to be away from that vampire.  He had made her feel caged.  She could feel the power that emanated from him.  Whoever this 'dark one' was, he chose his minions well.                                           

          The two human were leaning against the wall on either side of the door.  They stood when Kaoru exited and watched as she shut the door behind her.  "Don't try to escape.  We're on to you," the taller, blond one said icily.

          "What ever do you mean?" Kaoru asked innocently, gracing them with a smirk.

          The other one huffed and turned away.  "Just follow me and don't listen to her.  She just needs a fix."

          "Shut up Morgana," the blond continued.  "I can tell she's not hooked."

          Kaoru followed the other one since she was headed towards the stairs anyway.  "If she's Morgana, then you must be Rose," Kaoru put in.  "Well you are certainly no rose."

          "Why you little bitch!"

          The other girl laughed.

          "I've been called a bitch already today, hon.  It's getting old," Kaoru spat out.  They'd reached the stairs.  The one called Morgana had already walked past them.  Kaoru felt a rush of air as Rose lunged towards her.  She smirked.  Here was the perfect excuse to use her judo move.  Going with the girl's momentum, she grabbed her arm and flipped her over her shoulder.  Rose landed, stunned, on her back.  Surprisingly, Kaoru still had her purse.

          "Ooh.  She so deserved that," Morgana commented, having turned around just in time to see the action.  "Come on, new girl.  You'll fit right in."

          "I don't think I'm right for this," Kaoru said, pulling open the door to the stairs.

          Morgana looked confused.  "But you can't back out once you're hired.  I'll have to let them know you're going."

          "Sorry.  No can do.  Bye."  Kaoru waved, and ran down the dim stairwell.  Halfway down the first flight she whipped into someone coming up and fell the rest of the way down.  Luckily, they broke her fall.  She assessed herself.  No broken bones, just a couple scrapes and brush burns.  "I'm so sorry," she began, then got a good look at the person's face.  "Ken?!"

          He was relieved to hear Kaoru's voice.  So then he wasn't too late after all.  But now was no time to fuss over her.  Who knew where she'd been or why she was running down the stairs in the first place.  "You're alive.  Good.  Now please get off me."

          Blushing, Kaoru scrambled off of him and rose to her feet.  She watched as he did the same.  "What are you doing here?  Why didn't you come and get me sooner, you idiot!"

          "Sorry," he apologized to appease her.  "Did you get anything?"

          "I bet you're sorry!  I saw you dancing with those girls!  You were supposed to be watching my back!"

          "I was blending in," he defended himself guiltily.  "Did you get anything?" he asked again.

          "Yeah I got something!  I got a job offer!  One I don't feel like accepting.   Where do you think I was going when I ran into you?  They'll be onto me any second!"

          "Why didn't you tell me!?!  We've got to get out of here.  I'll have to fight them if they catch us and I don't want them knowing who I am."  He leaned forward and lifted Kaoru bridal style in one quick movement.  Not bothering to explain why, he raced down the stairs and stopped at the bottom, listening.  He didn't hear any voices in the hallway, but he could hear some just outside the door on the floor where Kaoru had been.  He decided to risk it and barged out into the hallway.  Noone.  He let the door shut as he heard the one at the top of the stairs open.  He raced to the emergency exit and out into the night.

          Kaoru didn't recover from the shock of Ken suddenly picking her up and the blurry sensation of his speed until they were outside.  He raced from shadow to shadow.  "What are you doing?  They're not after us!"

          "There were cameras all over that place.  They know which exit we used and they probably have trackers to find which direction I went in.  Don't talk so loud.  There's the car over there."  He sat her down.  "I'm going to unlock the doors with the remote and when you do, run for it.  We have to get away from here.  Ready?"  He didn't stop to see if she was, but fumbled the key ring from his pocket and pointed the remote at the car.

          They had perhaps thirty yards to run.  From their angle, the passenger side was closest, so Ken would have to run around the front of the car and then get in.  Of course, being Ken, he was faster then Kaoru.  She cursed her high heels.  It didn't help that Ken had made it sound like they would be shot running across the open territory, or what ever vampires did that was the equivalent of shooting.  But somehow, she made it.  She felt incredibly slow and Ken was already in the car and had it started by the time she shut her door, but she made it.  Noone had shot at them.  Noone was even there that she was aware of.  He pealed away before she was strapped in, making her lurch back into the seat.  He kept glancing in the mirror as if he expected a tail, and still noone was there.  Kaoru managed to buckle her seatbelt.

          "Do you want to tell me about the dark one, Ken?"  Kaoru asked after her fear of immediate pursuit had died down and she felt a little safer.

          Ken gulped.  He would've felt scared at the tone in her voice if he wasn't waiting for the tails to materialize behind them.

          "He must be pretty powerful to let his guys offer me three thousand an hour," she continued.  "You haven't gotten me involved in some crazy vampire war, have you?"

          "I'll explain later.  Right now we've got to get to someplace where I can ditch this car.  Once we get to a more populated part of the city, start looking for an alley.  They probably have a bug planted on this car and are tracking us right now."

          "A bug!  Stop and look for it then."

          "Can't.  As soon as we stop they'll get suspicious and show up if they haven't decided to already.  Once they find out this is the car you got away in. . ."

          "Oh no!  We can't escape on foot once we ditch the car!"

          "We'll only need to run for a little while until we're out of the alley.  Then we can stop in a shop or something and I'll call and get another car."  There were the tails in the mirror alright.  They weren't even bothering to hide the fact.  Ken decided this area was populated enough.  "Hold on, this is our turn."  He sped up and turned into an alley.  The following car screeched past, trying to brake.  Ken continued to the end of the alley and stopped the car.  "Get out!" he yelled, diving out his side and rushing around to Kaoru's.

          Kaoru barely had time to unbuckle her seatbelt and jump down from the car when Ken was there grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the end of the alley.  She heard a voice behind her yell stop and a couple gun shots.  A breath of wind blew by her cheek and she knew that had been a bullet.  Then Ken had whipped her around the corner and was weaving with her through the other pedestrians.  He illegally jaywalked, causing a fender bender, and ran around another corner.  There was another shot.  People screamed and dropped to the ground.  Down a straightaway, another alley, another street.  

          Then they were on 45th street, and then they were in Times Square.  The lights were in their favor.  He crossed the street to the traffic island where some insane guy stood, a crowd around him, in his underwear strumming on a guitar.  He had a cowboy hat on and words painted on it.  Kaoru realized that this was the 'naked cowboy' she'd read an article about.  She wished she could get his autograph.  

          Then they were breezing in front of a bus and a traffic cop and inside a records store.  Ken was forced to slow to a fast walk.  He dragged her to the back of the store.  Old sheet music of ancient jazz tunes was displayed on musty racks.  He let go of her hand and pulled out his cell phone.  Kaoru took the moment to listen in and recover from the shock of the chase.

          "It's Ken . . . I need a car.  Mine's gone . . . Times Square, south corner of 45th, in a records store . . . I need one closer than that.  Some guys are looking for us . . . Of course she's here too . . . Five minutes, the north corner outside . . . We'll be crossing the street . . . Thanks . . . Yeah, I'll take care of your car."  Ken hung up, slipping the phone back in his pocket.

          "Who was that?" Kaoru asked.

          "Aoshi.  In four minutes and thirty seconds, we're going to step out of this store and cross the traffic median.  We'll wait until we see a gray Jeep Cherokee in the lane closest to us with a cowboy hat on the antenna.  The driver will stop and jump out.  We'll shake hands while you get in the back seat.  He'll leave and we'll drive away.  I would have him take you to Aoshi's so I can get some info from those two who were shooting at us, but I can't trust Aoshi's people with you.  We're still doing the couple thing, so just hold my hand and follow me.  Got it?"

          Kaoru nodded.  "Ken, I feel like I'm walking around in a dream."

          An elderly female customer came back and gave them an odd look.  Ken realized that they must look pretty strange, standing back in a dark corner of the store.  He held out his arms, willing Kaoru to come in to his embrace.  She did, looking troubled.  The elderly woman smiled and turned away.

          "You don't tell me anything," Kaoru accused sadly, pressing herself against him, glad for the contact.  She closed her eyes.

          "The less you know, the better," Ken responded, surprised that she was seeking comfort from him.

          "That's not true.  I'm risking my life.  That's like being able to die for your country when you're eighteen, but you can't drink until you're twenty-one.  It's messed up."

          "The whole world's f**ked up.  You didn't think I wouldn't be?"

          "You're the least messed up person I've met my whole life."  She put and emphasis on the 'messed'.  Ken thought it was funny that she didn't want him to swear.

          "You just don't know me very well," Ken denied.

          "Well I wish I did," she said slowly.  "Something drew me to you, Ken.  I don't know why."  She sighed, wondering why since Ken kept himself emotionally detached from her.  It was hard having other people warm to her quicker than the one person she wanted in all this.  She was surprised that he was even holding her right now.  Even though she couldn't have him anyway, it was heartbreaking to see how easy and familiar he was with all the people around him except for her.  Sure he'd probably known them longer than she'd been alive, but what about those dancers at the club?  He couldn't have known them for more than forty-five minutes.  Still, he had kissed her.  That confused her most of all.  She'd enjoyed it, having someone act at ease around her after the episode with Misao and Aoshi.  Her lips still tingled at the memory.  She'd thought he cared about her then.  But he acted as if nothing had happened the next night.  Did he just not want to talk about it?  "This must have all been meant to happen," she said to herself.

          Ken closed his eyes too, letting himself enjoy being so close to her, breathing in her scent.  He'd missed her while she was away from him at the club and when he'd had to leave her with Kamatari.  It was pleasant having a quiet moment with her, only the lull of human voices in the background.  They stood together until Ken looked at his watch and saw they had a minute left.  He withdrew his arms from around her and took her left hand with his right, turning and leading her past the line and to the door before she'd fully opened her eyes.

          The night assaulted Kaoru's vision, but it was never dark in Times Square.  She followed Ken as he wove through the crowd at the corner to the crosswalk.  She stood just behind him, glad he was holding her hand.  The light changed and they walked across to the median.  The naked cowboy was gone.  She felt a vibration under her and realized it was the subway.  Times Square was a beautiful sight to behold at night.  She hadn't been there since a field trip in high school, and certainly never at night.  There were the huge buildings, a giant advertisement for the Lord of the Rings, painted billboards for Victoria Secret and Target, but the lights were the most astounding.  

          A bus drove past not a foot in front of Ken.  An advertisement for Freddy vs. Jason.  A gray Jeep Cherokee was stopped in the traffic in front of them.  There was a brown cowboy hat waving merrily in the wind on the antenna.  The driver climbed out, shook hands with Ken.  Ken pulled her forward and she opened the back door and climbed in the back, shutting the door.  Ken and the driver exchanged words that she couldn't hear and he calmly slid down into the driver's seat, shut the door, waved to the man, and shifted the Jeep into gear.  They pulled away from Times Square.

          "That went well.  We ditched the tail," he told her, buckling his seatbelt and adjusting the mirrors.

          "Where are we going now?  The Shinomoris?" Kaoru asked.

          "The airport in Newark.  I need to reserve some tickets for tomorrow night and I have to do it in person so we don't have to show ID," he replied.

          "Where are we going tomorrow night?"  Kaoru asked, not really surprised.  "Back to Philly?"

          "That would be dumb to take a plane to Philadelphia from New York.  We're going to LA."

          "You mean LA like Los Angeles?"

          "Yes."

          "Like Los Angeles in California?" she asked incredulously.

          "Yes."

          "Why?"

          "I'll tell you on the plane ride.  You my as well get some sleep on the way to the airport.  Lay down in the back.  It'll be about an hour."

          "Ken, tell me tonight.  Where are we sleeping tonight anyway?"

          "The Shinomoris.  Maybe I'll tell you if we have enough time before dawn."

          Kaoru sighed and lay down across the back seat.

**A/N - In case you were wondering, I don't drink. I just know some names for wines and other alcoholic beverages. I forget how, um, I read a lot? Hope you liked the chapter. What do you think of Club Shinta? I think I'd go, assuming it was real and I was a vampire. Okay, that would really suck to be a vampire though. Any opinions? Questions? Just tell me in a review. Speaking of reviews. It's time to thank the wonderful reviewers of chapter two!**

**JML - The Girl Who Cried Oro - Neko Oni-chan(Wow. You were kinda close, but it ain't all about revenge!) - kouri(Sou and Tomoe. Did I mention I can't stand Tomoe? But no fear, I do like Sou.) - Haroku 1(You've got a little insight there. Those little interactions are Kenshin's memories. They're not all him talking to Sano though. You kinda have to figure out which ones because I'm not telling! *wink*) - DespitefulSaint(I think Kamatari is cool too!) - Hitokiri-miao miao(I do have the first four chapters pre written, but after that it's an open road.)  - Riokai Guardian of the Night - Hiromi - Saiya Winters(Alex is a gonner, okay? LoL. And no, Kaoru is not going to die. Can't vouch for the other characters though, sorry.) - Brooke - HiEi FoR sALE - Migo - bitchy brunette(Aww. You put me on your favorites list? I am really honored.)**

**Thank-you all!**


	4. False Alarm

**A/N - Sorry about not updating for a while guys.**** Long week. But now because of the hurricane, my afternoon classes were canceled on Thursday, September 18th, and I have none today! So I have a three and a half day weekend! But that has nothing to do with Silver Cross. So let me stop droning on. Sorry this chapter's a bit shorter, but there's a big scene coming up that I didn't want to break up. Enjoy! Oh wait, before you enjoy, here's the list of wonderful reviewers. Sorry, I'm too tired to make comments this time.**

**The Girl Who Cried Oro, JML, ****Haruko1, kouri, Cali, Hitokiri-miao miao, Migo, Hiromi, bitchy brunette, Saiya Winters, A fan *grin*, Ramen, aglaia102, Luli451, HiEi FoR sALe, hOoTs, Hiei7, zeus the moose, KeNsHiN FoR sALe, notta jabronie**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, or even just Kenshin.  Or even just Sanosuke.**

**Silver Cross**

**Chapter 4 – False Alarm**

_How old are you in human years, Ken?_

_            Twenty-three._

_            That's good.  Some new law here says you can't drink until you're twenty-one._

_            How old are you?_

_            Twenty-four dude.  I refuse to count how many years I've been a vampire.  That's just too depressing._

_            Why?_

_            Because if I was still human I'd be an old man.  There's no way I'd be having as much fun with the ladies._

_            I see why Megumi didn't marry you before you were turned._

_            Hey!_

"Wake up."

          Kaoru blinked and looked around, confused.  To Ken, her expression was as if she was being born into the world again.  She looked at him, yawned, and sat up.  "Why are we still in the city?"

          "You slept for three hours.  We're back.  The plane tickets are in your purse.  I want you to keep them for me.  I've got a contact I want to talk to.  I want you to stay awake so no one breaks in to the car.  I'll be back in a half and hour.  If I'm not," he handed her the key to the car.  "You can find your way away from here.  You can drive a stick, right?"

          Kaoru nodded.  "You are coming back, right?  You're not ditching me?"

          "I'm not.  Get out of the back and at least sit in the passenger seat."

          He opened the passenger side door and waited for her to climb out.  He locked the back door behind her and shut it.  "Remember to lock the door and don't even roll down the window for anyone."

          "I'm not five years old, Ken."

          "I know.  Get in so I can see that it's locked before I leave."

          Instead of obeying him, Kaoru hugged him.  "You better come back because I'm not leaving here without you."

          He hugged her briefly, then pulled her away.  "Understood.  Now get in the car."

          Kaoru smiled and did as he asked.  She waved and, satisfied, he turned away and into the night.

          _I found the greatest chick for you.  She said she'd meet up with us tomorrow._

_            No.  Why are you constantly trying to fix me up with someone?_

_            It's good for you._

_            I never try to hook you up with a girl._

_            That's because you know there will never be anyone for me but Megumi.  But you're not a lost cause._

_            Oh yes I am._

_            Come on.  Your contacts all love you.  I know you could make some lucky vampire girl happy._

_            No way.  I'm not going tomorrow.  Tell her I had to hunt or something._

_            You're no fun.  Was there a girl in your past?_

_            No._

_            Maybe she's not born yet then and that's why you're a vampire._

_            Shut up before you get any softer on me._

After fifteen minutes of looking among the homeless that had made this alley their home, he finally spotted the vampire he was looking for.  An old man with a long blond beard gone gray wearing countless layers of clothing and grime stood alone against the wall in the darkest corner of the alley.

          "Why do you do this to yourself, Cho?" Ken asked in a disgusted voice.

          The tall man chuckled.  "Hey, what's twenty years of living in the streets when you've got the rest of eternity to work on moving up?"

          "Whatever.  I saved your ass twenty years ago so you could go and live in the streets?  Why'd I waste my time?"

          "What do you want?"  Cho asked, eyes narrowing.

          "I want to know if any rumors have reached you that the dark one's in the states."

          "Sure have, but most say he's in Europe with a new right hand bitch.  What brings you to the big apple, my friend?"

          "You heard anything else?" Ken asked, choosing to ignore the question.

          "Just that the dark one would pay a mighty sum for your head, if anyone happens to come across you."  Cho pulled out a knife from a sheath inside his shirt.  "Silver plated, buddy.  Now I admit I do owe you for saving my ass back in the eighties, so you've got ten seconds to get the hell out of my alley and get your ass back wherever you came from.  We're through.  I've signed up with the dark one to be his informant here in the apple.  Sorry, Ken."

          Ken was furious, but he knew when he was beat.  Not bothering to throw a parting insult, he turned on his heel and walked away.  Did none of them remember what the dark one had done and why it was imperative that he be stopped?  He walked slowly back to the Jeep and Kaoru, knowing he had to get over his anger so he didn't take it out on her.  One thing was certain, the dark one was in the states and most likely in California.  Maybe with Kaoru along he'd have more of a chance at finding him then the last time he'd been close.  He checked his watch.  It was later than he'd thought.  Four thirty in the morning.  The sun rose in about an hour.  He'd have to give up on New York and get back to Aoshi's.  He found he didn't care if he never saw the Big Apple again.

          There was the Jeep and there was Kaoru, even though he was five minutes late.  He allowed himself to smile while he was far enough away that she couldn't see.  He'd left her with the keys.  She could've been halfway out of the city by now, but she was still there, looking like she was about to nod off in the passenger seat.  Then she spotted him and her eyes lit up.  She was instantly more alert.  He was falling for her way too hard and too fast.  As he reached the door, she leaned over and unlocked it, then stuck the key in the ignition.  He opened it and sat down.

          "It didn't go well, did it?" she asked miserably.

          "No," he admitted, allowing a tinge of regret to creep into his voice.

          "I'm glad you're okay."

          "Thanks."  He strapped in and started the car.  He could feel her gaze on him, but he looked straight ahead.  After a moment, he heard her strap in and he started the car, heading for Aoshi's apartment.   After a while, she curled up in the front seat and slept.

          _You ever feel guilty that you never fought in World War II?_

_            No.  That's a job for the humans.  Besides, we weren't even in __Japan__ when they dropped the bombs._

_            True, but I can't help but have a soft spot for __Japan__, even though the country's changed to much._

_            I already fought for my country when I was alive.  Why else do you think I ended up a vamp?_

_            Oh, so that's how it happened, injured in the line of duty and all.  You never told me._

_            You never asked._

_            Did your side win?_

_            Yes._

_            Was it worth it?_

_            It was worth dying for, but I was weak in the end.  So here I am.  I wish I had died._

Deja vu.  The parking garage was empty of people at this hour of the morning, so he watched the regular rise and fall of her chest as she breathed in her sleep.  Her dress had hiked up around her hips, but the skintight black shorts Kamatari had found for her to wear under the dress saved her dignity.  Not that he was looking in that area.  He sighed and stepped down from the car, walking around to her side.  He unlocked the door, opened it, locked it, and un-strapped her, gently lifting her from the car.  He was tired.  He had five minutes until the sun rose and he surrendered to sleep.  Kaoru pressed against him in her sleep and murmured something unintelligible.  She still had her purse on her shoulder.  He leaned against the door to shut it and headed for the apartment entrance.  The doorman saw him and rushed over to open the door.  Ken nodded his thanks, yawning.  It was too close to dawn for him to think straight.

          "You're visiting the Shinomoris, right?  I'll press the elevator button for you," the man volunteered.

          "Yes.  Thanks," Ken agreed.

          The elevator arrived at Ken stepped in.  "You and your wife must have had quite a night.  She's right tuckered out," the man observed, smiling down at Kaoru.

          Ken wasn't in the mood to correct him.  He could feel himself growing more and more tired.  If he didn't get somewhere dark soon he'd nod off in the elevator.  "Yeah.  Thanks, mister," he answered the night doorman.  The doors shut and Ken managed to press the button for the top floor even though he was holding Kaoru.  

          Kaoru stirred in his arms and looked blearily up at him.  "Where are we?" she asked, slipping her arms around his neck to keep herself steady.

          "In the elevator going up to Aoshi's.  Only fives minutes left until dawn, Kaoru.  I'm getting tired.  Would you mind if I set you down?" he asked.

          She blushed.  "Oh, sure."

          He set her down gently as they arrived at the top floor and the elevator slowed.  He yawned.  "Sorry."

          "That's okay."  Kaoru silently studied this tired Ken.  He dropped his defenses at the end of the day, she concluded.  The doors opened and they stepped out.  He fumbled around in his pockets for the key.

          "They've probably already gone to their room," he told her, coming up with the key with difficulty and inserting it into the door.  He missed the lock a few times.  Kaoru was alarmed at this sudden change in Ken.  Had he been driving them around like this too?  She was glad she'd been asleep.  He should've woken her up so she could drive.  He finally got the door unlocked and opened.

          "Would you shut the door and put the locks on?" he mumbled the request, leaning against the wall just inside the door.  He tried unsuccessfully to stifle another yawn.

          "Are you okay, Ken?" Kaoru asked, concerned, as she put the bolt on.  She noticed boxes stacked neatly on the other side of the door and decided they were the clothes and things Kamatari had picked out for her and Ken.  Ken had said he was sending them to the Shinomori's, hadn't he?

          "Yes.  Could I lean on you?  I don't think I can walk on my own."

          "Okay."  Kaoru jumped over to him and draped his arm around her shoulder.  "Got you."  They set off from the wall shakily.  "Where to, Ken?"

          "Just find the first bedroom," he mumbled, struggling to keep his eyes open.

          The first door was a bathroom, but the second was a guest bedroom with only one window.  Kaoru couldn't manage to find the light switch with Ken leaning on her so heavily, but she could make out the bed by the dim light wafting in from the city night lights.  Kaoru and Ken struggled over to the bed.  When they sat down Ken immediately kicked off his shoes, slid under the cover, and lay down on his side, curled up.

          "Could you draw the shades?  I can't let the light get through," he requested, exhausted.  She imagined he had his eyes shut already, even though he was just a black form in the blacker gloom of the room.

          Kaoru rushed over and did as he asked.  Her purse slipped from her shoulder, but the room was pitch black and she couldn't find it again.

          "Come here and sleep with me."  His smooth voice came from the darkness.

          Kaoru wondered if he knew what that sounded like, but couldn't resist the call of his voice.  She walked in the direction it had come from until her knees ran into the bed.  She crawled in, letting her shoes drop behind her on the floor.  He was so far gone, she doubted he'd remember anything in the morning.  She felt his arm around her and he pulled her close to him.  She closed her eyes.  His lips brushed her cheek.  She couldn't tell if it was by accident or not.  She didn't know wether to hope it was.

          "I'm sorry about tonight," he apologized.  His breath was hot against her face.

          Kaoru's heart was racing.  He was too close.  "Don't be sorry, Ken."

          "I am.  I don't want anything to happen to you.  I couldn't forgive myself if it did," he breathed.

          "Good.  Because I wouldn't forgive you either.  I'd haunt you forever," Kaoru joked weakly, trying to fight the sensation of practically melting against him.  At the same time, her whole body was on alert, skin tingling with pent up emotion.  Ken chuckled.  She could feel the laugh start deep in his chest and travel up his body.  He pulled her closer.  The overwhelming conviction flooded over her that she must be the one to protect him, and she encircled her arms around him as best she could.

          "Dawn must be in a few moments," he murmured so softly she strained to hear him.  His breathing was starting to take on the regular pattern of sleep.  "Try to get some sleep during the day, okay?"

          "I have no problem going to sleep right now," she assured him, withdrawing her arms and getting comfortable next to him.  He made no reply, just kept breathing regularly.  Kaoru realized he'd fallen asleep and knew the dawn had arrived.  She smiled and drifted off to sleep herself.

          _Hey.  Wanna come out drinking with me and some of the guys?_

_            Nah.  I'm not into that._

_            You sure?  I just found out that now that I'm a vamp, it's almost impossible for me to get drunk._

_            Probably because you drank too much when you were human._

_            Probably.  Now I can cheat the guys when they're drunk.  They won't even remember what happened._

_            I thought you had more honor than that._

_            Nope.  It's payback.  They got me way too many times before.  Sure you don't want to be my witness?_

_            Nah.  You go on._

_            Okay.  I'll be back before sunrise plenty richer.  I may even spend some money on you if you're lucky._

          Kaoru woke slowly, feeling warm and relaxed.  The room was pitch black except for the red letters of the clock on what she supposed must be the night stand by the bed.  It said four twenty-four.  She'd been asleep about ten hours then.  She rolled over onto her stomach and looked away from the alarm.  Her leg brushed against a warm body.  What the hell?  Who was that?  Well it wasn't as if she slept in a bed with other people on a regular basis.  She had to know who this was.  She was probably just too groggy to remember.  She reached out and traced a finger down the person's face.  Oh, it was Ken, and there was that faint scar on his left cheek that was only visible when a certain slant of light fell across his face.  She marveled at the sensation of his smooth skin under her finger.  He'd never let her touch him like this when he was awake.  His mouth was slightly open, she could feel the faintest breaths puffing against her finger.  Then last night flew to her in a rush, Kamatari, the club, waiting in the car for Ken to come back.  He'd seemed so much looser when he was drifting off to sleep, more relaxed, like he'd been when he woke up and talked to the Shinomori's early last night.  

          She wondered how he would treat her today and sighed, withdrawing her hand from his face.  What had he said they were doing that night?  Going to California!  Even farther away from her home.  But Kaoru decided that she'd go without putting up a fuss.  No one was going to miss her after all.  She had to admit that she wanted to stay with Ken as long as possible.  There was that something about him that drew her like a moth to a flame.  She just hoped this particular flame wasn't a bug-zapper.  

          She thought guiltily of Sou for a moment.  He might be worried when he couldn't get in touch with her, but there really wasn't much he could do from Japan, was there?  This was likely to be the adventure of a lifetime, the only adventure of her lifetime.  She was reluctant to cut it short.  Her parents had said they'd call once a week.  They wouldn't be too disturbed if she didn't answer.  And if they were, they could hardly cut their cruise short and rush back up to Pennsylvania.  She was glad that Sou and her parents didn't have any way to contact each other.  She doubted she would be gone long anyway.  Let them worry.  They'd get over it.

          Kaoru turned her mind back to the present and decided she was hungry.  She hadn't had anything since the drink of water at the club.  She wriggled away from him and out of the bed, then made her way in the dark to the door with minimal difficulty and opened it.  The light from the hallway was on and shone into the room.  There was Ken, lying with his back to her, curled underneath the covers.  And there was her purse on the floor.  Her shoes were probably on the other side of the bed.  She vaguely remembered slipping them off before going to sleep.  Kaoru smiled at the sleeping vampire's still form and turned away, padding down the hallway to where she remembered the kitchen to be.

          As she munched on cereal, she thought about Ken's change in moods when the sun rose and set.  She wondered if he'd be as relaxed when he woke and excitedly decided to be there when he did.  She should try to get more sleep anyway, no doubt she'd suffer lots of jet lag in California.  What was the time difference again?  Three or four hours.  That much longer night and time running around following Ken in whatever scheme he had in mind.  She decided she might as well take a shower and then pack.  It would be nice to get into the more comfortable clothes Kamatari had picked out for her and out of the now wrinkled dress.  She didn't think the Shinomori's would care if she opened the packages from Kamatari, even if they were addressed to the couple.  Well Aoshi might care, but Misao wouldn't, and Misao clearly was the boss of her husband.  Just as long as she finished before sunset.

          _Hey, Ken, do you think I should wear the blue one or the green one?_

_            Whatever you want.  It's your turn to go looking for new contacts.  I'm relaxing tonight._

_            I know.  That's why I need to know which color will impress the ladies._

_            Go with the blue then._

_            Thanks.  Pretty women, here I come!_

As always, when he first swam to consciousness he heard the sound of his mother's voice singing him an ancient lullaby long forgotten by all but him.  Then her voice faded away and he was caught in a panic because he could not wake up quickly.  But this time his panic was soothed by a faint scent of jasmine.  Kaoru.  It stayed with him as he fought to open his eyes, the conviction that his past enemies were gathered around him ready to drive swords in and out of his flesh growing in the back of his mind.  They must have already gotten Kaoru.  Her blood would be dripping of the blades, mixing with his as they drove the knives in. . .  

          He could not move or open his eyes for twenty minutes, and he knew the sun was setting slowly as it always did, teasing him with the brightness that waited just at the other side of hie eyelids.  Then, as the last slivers of light faded from the sky, he could open his eyes.  He stared up at the ceiling.  The room was black, as always.  The air was a great weight.  He couldn't move under it's pressure.  It seemed a wonder his lungs weren't crushed.  But then again, he didn't really need them to breathe.  Then the sun must have completely set, because in the space of a minute, the air thinned and he could move again.  

          Ken sat up and probed his surroundings with his senses.  Who was that sitting on the chair?  They were breathing slowly, as if asleep.  Silently, he slid out of bed and over to the door, his clothes rustling the slightest as he slid from between the sheets.  He'd deal with the intruder himself.  Painfully.  He grinned.  It would be nice to have someone to vent his frustration on.  And this outsider was human.  Weak.  Probably one of the hunters.  How annoying.  He vaguely wondered how they'd gotten into the Shinomori apartment.  He found he didn't really care.  He locked the door so the intruder couldn't get out and tensed in preparation to flick on the lights, ready to spring over to the chair the minute they realized he was conscious.  But he wouldn't make it easy for them.  No, not easy at all.  Maybe he'd leave a little for Aoshi and Misao to play with once he was done.

          It was Kaoru, curled up in an easy chair.  He recoiled from his attack stance in horror.  What was she doing here and why hadn't he been able to sense that it was her?  He tried again.  Now he could .  He must have not been fully awake then.  He shivered.  He would've hurt her if he hadn't gone to lock the door first.  He realized that there really was no way for an outsider to get into the Shinomori penthouse.  It was over a hundred stories up.  The Shinomoris had human lookouts.  All the doormen and personnel who worked there were their contacts.  They owned the whole building!  He hadn't been thinking straight.  

          Ken walked over and looked down at her, sleeping peacefully.  She was curled in the chair in the fetal position, using her hands for pillows against the arm rest.  She slept with a slight smile on her face, her cheeks a nice healthy pink.  Plenty of blood flowing through those veins.  He swallowed and licked his lips nervously.  She'd changed from her dress into a pair of jeans, a tight red shirt with a lowish scoop-necked collar, and a jean jacket.  Her shoes were placed neatly under the chair.  The whole outfit looked expensive.  She must've found the clothes Kamatari had outfitted her with, then.  His people delivered fast.  As if feeling his gaze, she stirred and woke, squinting in the light.

          "Ken?  You're awake!" she exclaimed, uncurling herself from the chair and standing, loose hair flowing down her back.  He could hardly believe it when she walked into his arms and hugged him, burying her face in his chest for a moment.

          "Yeah," he answered, hugging her as well.  He wondered what had brought on this onslaught of emotion.  There she went, tempting him again.  Well she normally tempted him by simply existing, but did she have to get this close to him when he'd just woken and could barely think straight?  He smoothed back her hair and looked down at her upturned face.  His breath caught when he realized she wasn't wearing the silver cross earrings.  He caressed the side of her neck with a finger, suddenly barely able to hold his emotions in check.

          She blushed.  "They're on the night stand.  I've been using them almost as a weapon.  I took them off to show you that I trust you.  Only you though.  They're going back on before I see the Shinomoris," she explained.

          He tilted his head down and kissed her neck, wishing he could do more.  "You shouldn't trust me."  He pulled away with difficulty.

          "I can't help it, Ken," she told him, hesitantly rising up on her toes and kissing his cheek.  He tilted his head at the last second so their lips were connected.  She gasped in surprise and he instantly deepened the kiss, willing his tongue to explore her mouth, amazed that he was actually kissing her again.  He hadn't thought this would happen a second time.  She slid her arms up and around his neck and he felt her fingers twine through his hair.  He broke away with difficulty and kissed her neck once again.  He was barely able to keep his fangs from penetrating, but he couldn't resist her.  Hadn't he hated those earrings because they stopped him from getting to her?  With a start he found that he wanted her more than he wanted her blood.

          Kaoru couldn't help but gasp again as Ken's lips traveled down from her neck, along her collarbone, and to the tops of her breasts.  Her tenses were tingling.  His lips left a trail of fire up her skin.  He seemed to sense that she was uncomfortable, because he began kissing up again, slowly.  It was agony.  She couldn't help but want more.  She was frustrated that she was uncomfortable with him still, but reminded herself sadly that she hadn't known him for long and probably wouldn't be around him much longer in the future.  This couldn't last.  He finally stopped at her bottom lip and gazed down at her, eyes a soft shade of violet.

          "What's wrong?" he asked her.

          "I don't know how this can last."

          _I think I love you. _

Ken wanted to confess, refusing to think about anything besides the immediate future.  How anything like this could've happened in such a short time he didn't know, but what he'd thought was true.  It was going to break his heart when he took her back to her home and left her.  He could never risk the chance that he might have a weak moment and turn her.  He waited to see what else she would say, how she would react to his silence.  A green flame of envy sprung up in his consciousness when she still looked troubled.  Was she even now thinking of her boyfriend?

          Kaoru's eyes clouded with tears.  "At least we're going to California together," she said, before her tears spilled over.

          "Why are you so sad then?"

          "Because I'm going to have to give you up.  I can't live like this forever, Ken."

          "I know."  He kissed her tears and then her mouth.  "Feel better."

          She smiled.  He must still be waking up, because he wasn't his usual cold self.  "Then I guess you'll finally tell me what's going on?"

          "On the plane, okay?  The flight's at one.  Can you wait that long?" he teased lightly.

          "Don't treat me like I'm a little kid," she said softly back, smiling.

          "With these curves?" he asked, drawing a finger up her side from her thigh across her hips to her breasts and on up to her lips, his eyes on hers the whole time.  He saw nothing but pleasure in the dark blue depths.  He wanted her too much.  He didn't think she'd let him do anything too risqué.  Didn't her religion say something about not having sex unless you were married?  Something like that anyway.

          "I wouldn't put it past you," she replied, obviously happy again.  Ken was glad she'd recovered from her depression so quickly.  It was disconcerting seeing her with tears in her eyes over him.  They kissed again, exploring each other.  She tasted faintly of sugar.  He supposed she'd eaten cereal or something.  She was as soft as cotton candy, melting in his mouth.

          "Ken," she broke into the kiss with difficulty.  She didn't want this to extend until he woke up fully.  She doubted she'd be able to talk to him until sunset then if he suddenly snapped to his senses and pushed her away.  He'd probably even be angry.  "When are we leaving?  I don't want to miss our flight."

          She was right.  Ken focused his mind back on business matters instead of her body.  "The flight's for one.  So we get there an hour early, and I need one and a half hours for traffic.  Puts us at ten thirty," he calculated, reluctantly releasing her.

          "I already packed and picked out some traveling clothes for you, if you don't mind.  They're from the clothes you bought from Kamatari.  I put them in the bathroom in case you wanted a shower," she told him shyly.

          "Thanks."  He was surprised that she'd thought so far ahead.  Who knew what she'd been doing while he and the Shinomoris slept.  She'd turned her back and was walking over to the night stand to put back on her silver earrings.

          "No problem," Kaoru answered breezily to cover her nervousness.  She was suddenly troubled.  How would he act once they were out among the world again?  She slipped each of the earrings on, suddenly feeling like crying again.  Ken could be so sweet when he let his guard down.  Why did he have to act so cold for the world?  But then he was there, his arms around her waist, which he squeezed lightly.

          "Remember, this morning," he whispered, instantly buoying her spirits.  His lips brushed her cheek before he released her and headed inside the adjoining bathroom.  Kaoru smiled.  Everything was going to be okay.  Snapping out of her daze, she decided to head out to the living room before Misao came looking for her and wondered what she was doing with Ken.  For some reason, she didn't want her to know anything about her and Ken's relationship.  If you could call it that.  A nagging thought stayed in the back of her mind.  If Ken wanted her to remember, did that mean he loved her?  Or was he just toying with her emotions?  She wished she could resist him, but it had been all she could do to break off that kiss.

          _Ken, lately I've been thinking about night school._

_            Why?_

_            I feel a burning need to broaden my education._

_            No really, why?_

_            There's this really hot chick who's into vampires and stuff and she'd taking this night school course.  I thought I'd surprise her sometime._

_            She'll be surprised alright._

"I'm definitely going to drop by and visit you next summer, Kaoru.  When do you get home from college?" Misao asked, giving Kaoru a hug.

          Ken, Kaoru, and the Shinomoris had finally lugged the six bags of luggage and two carry-on bags Kamatari had fixed them up with out to the car.  They were saying their goodbyes in the busy parking garage.  Ken was already in the car, with Aoshi talking to him through the window.  Misao and Kaoru were on the other side of the car, but Kaoru had not opened the passenger side door yet.

          "I should be home by mid-May," Kaoru answered, although it was hard to imagine next summer.  Where would Ken be then?  "I'll look forward to it, Misao."  She was surprised to find that she meant it, even though she'd gotten off to a rocky start with the woman.  She wondered how Aoshi would feel about Misao visiting.  He and Kaoru had pretty much managed to have nothing to do with each other.  Kaoru figured he was still upset over her earring burning his wife, but it was hard to tell.  He kept is face more impassive than even Ken could.  It didn't look like Misao had rubbed off on him at all over the years.

          "So will I.  I don't have any human friends.  Contacts don't count for much.  It's like they're drugged on you.  But I'm happy as long as I'm with my hubbie.  Take care of yourself, Kaoru.  Ken's a reckless one."

          "I will.  You watch out too.  The two hunters I met looked like they'd come after any vampire they happened to stumble across."

          "I'll be okay.  Hunters come and go, but Aoshi and me have always made it through, along with the rest of the Oniwaban.  They'll be coming back later tomorrow night.  I'm glad you two are leaving before they do.  I don't know how they'd react to you.  Probably worse than I did.  Sorry about that."

          "It's okay," Kaoru said uncomfortably.  She didn't really like thinking about it.  An irrational fear would start to build within her that Misao and Ken would turn against her and Aoshi would join in and she would be a great meal.  Maybe that fear wasn't so irrational when she thought about it.

          Ken started the car.  She got the message.  "See you then, Misao," she promised, impulsively hugging the smaller woman once more.

          Misao hugged her back fiercely.  "You're good for him, Kaoru.  He hasn't been this animated for ten years.  I hope things work out for you both."

          Kaoru smiled and opened the door, stepping up into the Jeep.  Misao ran around the back, long braid trailing in her wake, and joined her husband.  Once she'd shut the door, Ken backed out and pulled slowly away towards the exit.  Kaoru rolled down her window and waved.  She watched the Shinomoris in the rearview mirror.  Aoshi's arm was draped casually around Misao, who was waving back energetically and yelling something.  He was ever the picture of coolness, she more like a bouncy cheerleader.  They fit together well.  Ken turned the corner and they were gone.  

          "Aoshi's got a man at the airport coming in two hours before our flight, so we're handing the car over to him.  What was Misao talking to you about?"

          "What was Aoshi talking to you about?" Kaoru shot back, buckling her seatbelt and using the hair tie on her wrist to put her hair up in a casual ponytail.  It was refreshing to have it up and not clinging to her neck.  Ken had started the air-conditioning, but it hadn't cooled the car down yet.

          Ken remained expressionless.  "Business.  I'm not going to tell you any more."

          Kaoru sniffed.  "Then I won't tell you anything."  She smirked and looked out the window at New York City.  She hadn't had any time to appreciate it.  The sky scrapers, the lights, the countless limos and taxis.  All the people trying to make it in the big city.  As always when she was in the city for too long, she started to get a little claustrophobic.  It would be good to get out.  Even in its beauty, it was cold and impersonal to an outsider like her who enjoyed the peace and quiet of nature, well as much nature as she could get living in the suburbs of Philly.  She fiddled with the radio and came up with the beginning strains of 'I Wanna Know' by Joe.

          "Didn't know you went for the R&B," Ken commented.

          "I like everything, except country.  Must be growing up near Philadelphia that did it.  No one listens to country, but mostly everything else is okay.  What about you?"

          "What ever you want is fine."

          "That's not what I meant."

          "I know."

          "Then tell me."  Kaoru rolled her eyes.  There was the side of Ken that didn't like to explain anything.

          "Relaxing music.  I don't really care what it is or what language it's in.  After being alive for so long running around making contacts and making sure people owe me so they'll do me a favor, I need to relax."

          Kaoru tried to picture Ken relaxing to R&B, sipping on a juice drink while he lounged on the side of a pool.    He'd be wearing his swim trunks and sunglasses and maybe a towel would be draped around his neck.  He'd sip the juice from a straw while a bikini-stringed woman massaged his neck.  Lucky woman.  She snapped out of her reverie.  Ken couldn't go out in the day anyway, and she'd been picturing him on a bright, cloudless afternoon.  

          "How long have you been a vampire?" Kaoru asked.  She'd been burning to ask him as soon as she found out what he was, but hadn't had any reason to hope that he'd answer her.  She still didn't, but he didn't seem so distant that evening.  He might feel like answering.

          "Since 1800 or so.  I'm not sure of the year.  Not nearly as long as some.  I know a guy from the Renaissance era."

          "Wow," Kaoru said, impressed.  What depth of willpower did it take to live for so long?  They'd be chased by hunters, their contacts would grow old.  Everyone they'd known as a human would slowly die off until they had no one but other vampires.  Kaoru hadn't gotten the impression that vampires stuck together much.  It seemed to be a solo lifestyle.  "How old were you when you became a vampire?"  She held her breath, half doubting that he would answer at all, or that if he did, he would be angry.  But Ken didn't seem annoyed or surprised at her question and replied in a neutral enough tone.

          "Twenty-three."

Kaoru was silent, mulling over this new information.  She couldn't even begin to imagine the changes in the world he'd seen.  They didn't have cars then, or electricity.  She wondered what country he was from, but decided not to press.  He didn't seem to want to talk about it.  She'd press him on the plane, once they were settled in and he couldn't use the road as a distraction to avoid eye contact.  He was going to be talking a lot on the plane.  Besides, she liked a moment of peace with Ken.  They didn't have to talk to feel comfortable with each other.  In the car heading towards Newark airport, it was as if they were in their own bubble, floating through the world, isolated.  It was just the two of them.  She liked it that way.

**A/N- Well there it is! Hope you liked it. Sorry it was a bit shorter than the previous chapters. And again, thanks a bunch for all the reviews. And thanks to HiEi FoR sALe for telling all those friends about my story! Again, hope you liked this chapter! Please review and tell me what you thought.**

**Press that button!**


	5. Sano and Megumi

**A/N – I am sooo sorry that I am such a slacker and haven't updated for a month!  A month!  I can hardly believe it.  Now no one will like my story anymore and they won't bother to review…. Ahhh!  I am just really glad that certain reviewers who shall remain nameless sent me emails and asked me when the next chapter was coming out.  If it wasn't for them, I might never have pinned down a date.  Sorry about that again.  I can't say sorry enough.  And sorry to this story and sorry to myself for waiting.  I'd forgotten how it was to get into the writing groove.  Shiver.  May that never happen again.  Well now on to thank the reviewers!**

**The Girl Who Cried Oro, Hitokiri-miao miao, bitchy brunette, HiEi FoR sALe, zeus the moose, KeNsHiN FoR SaLe, ****En Satsu Koku Ryuu Ha, notta jabronie, hOoTs, sbae222, aglaia102, Lilfrozenfire, kouri, Hiromi, Sara, Saturn-pegasussword, Riokai Guardian of the Night, Poppy2, Rikki-chan, Saiya Winters, Videl621, Avalonian Witch, Katie, Linay**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Aquafina water, or vampires, or the moon, or the sun, or a car, or a house or ****Los Angeles****, or ****New York City****, or a swimming pool.  Wouldn't it be something if I did?**

**Silver Cross **

****

**Chapter 5 – Airport Scenes**

_I think we should check on Megumi's family, Ken.  See if they got through the war._

_            They weren't in __Nagasaki__ were they?  Didn't her husband have relatives there?_

_            That's why I need to go, Ken.  Plus it'd be nice to get back to __Japan__._

_            Yeah.  The land down under isn't what it's cracked up to be after a couple years._

_            And I think the accent's starting to wear off on me, mate._

_            Sure is.  Let's get the hell out of here and back to __Japan__.  I hate lying low during these world wars anyway._

_            You got it.  But I kinda got used to summer.  It's winter in __Japan__._

_            Then we'll head to __Egypt__ afterwards.  I haven't been there in a while._

_            Sounds like a plan._

"You have the tickets, right?" Ken asked, as he pulled into the bustling airport terminal boulevard.  "I can't remember if the airline was Delta or UA Air."

          "Sec.  I put them in my wallet because I didn't want to carry around a purse," she reached into her back pocket, retrieved the wallet, and flipped through it for the tickets.

          Meanwhile, Ken was scanning the crowd for the man Aoshi had promised to pick up the car.  He didn't want to be stuck having to rent a space in the lot until Aoshi had a chance to pick it up.

          "Delta," Kaoru answered, just as Ken half saw-half sensed the contact standing just inside the door of the Delta terminal, probably enjoying the air-conditioning.  Ken pulled over to the side in a spot where a car had just vacated and shut off the car.  He decided to wait for the contact to approach, just to be sure he had the right man.

          "Let's start unloading," he instructed Kaoru, checking for cars in his rearview mirror and opening the door.

          "Alright.  Don't let me forget this carry-on bag though," Kaoru fussed, hopping out of the car and heading for the back.

          Ken tossed her the keys as he was walking to join her.  "Unlock it while I grab that baggage cart."

          "Sure," Kaoru agreed, catching them easily.  She wondered why he looked so distracted.  "Is everything okay?"

          He refocused and smiled at her, touching her arm lightly as he passed.  "It's fine.  Be right back."  

          Kaoru shrugged.  That was good enough a response for her.  

          Ken made a point not to look at the old man who was by now keenly watching him.  This probably was Aoshi's contact, though Ken couldn't tell for sure as his face was hidden in shadow.  His senses picked up vampire energy.  It felt vaguely familiar.  Ken decided he must have run into the man previously.  He had worked with most of the Oniwaban at some point in time or another.  He turned his back to the man, knowing the vampire would make his move then.

          "Battousai.  I did not expect to find you so much changed.  You let your guard down.  I could kill you this very moment."

          Ken felt a dagger pressed against his side, out of everyone's view but the speaker.  "I doubt that, old man," a tense Ken replied evenly, letting his bangs cover his eyes.  A dagger wouldn't kill him, but he would be wounded enough that the airline officials would surely notice and force him to seek medical care.  And he certainly couldn't do that.  He could just picture the doctor's reaction to his slow pulse and low temperature.  If the man did decide to stab him, Ken knew he would be no match for any skilled vampire who tried to harm Kaoru, at least not until he could sleep again.

          But it turned out that Ken need not have worried.  The man simply laughed, withdrew the dagger from Ken's side, and shook his hand.  Ken wondered how the man had managed to sneak the weapon on the airlines past all the security.  He allowed himself to relax a little.  

          "It's been too long," the man continued.  Ken now vaguely remembered him from thirty or forty years ago.  "Now you must introduce me to the lady you're with.  My leader spoke briefly of her, but I see his description didn't do her justice."

          Kaoru watched the exchange worriedly.  Was this the man the Shinomoris had said would take the car back, or another altogether?  To be honest, he didn't look very threatening.  His hair was white and he had a ridiculous purple bow tied onto his beard.  She was confident Ken could beat him if it came down to blows, but if he was part of the Oniwaban group Misao had mentioned, he must be quite formidable.  Ken and the intruder seemed to be agreeing on something, and then both walked over towards Kaoru, the older man dragging a suitcase and Ken pushing along the luggage cart.

          Kaoru handed Ken back the keys, along with a questioning look, but he didn't even bother to explain the old man's presence, just started loading the suitcases from the back of the Jeep to the luggage rack.  He was remembering more about the man by the moment and knew he would get around to introducing himself to Kaoru.  Ken vaguely remembered that he was a lecherous old man.  His attempts to seduce young women were always pitiful.  It embarrassed Ken just thinking about them.

          The old man held out his hand to Kaoru and winked.  "I'm Okina.  Who are you and what are you doing stuck with this guy?"

          Kaoru smiled hesitantly and shook his hand.  "Call me Kaoru."  She wasn't sure why, but she didn't think it would be wise to go around blabbing her last name too.

          "Well Kaoru, any chance I can convince you to come back to the apartment with me instead of flying off who the hell knows where with Ken?" he asked, not letting go of her hand.

          She forced a laugh and glanced at Ken, who was silently loading the bags.  "Sorry."

          "Really?  Too bad.  He's a lucky guy then."

          "He doesn't know how lucky he is," Kaoru put in, drawing her hand from the old man's.

          Ken rolled his eyes in disgust and loaded the last bag.  He hated it when people talked about him as if he wasn't there, and trust Kaoru to get a word in against him.

          "We're ready to go then?" Kaoru asked, turning to Ken.

          He nodded and pulled the back of the Jeep shut.  "Don't forget your carry-on bag."

          "Oh yeah."  Kaoru walked past Okina and around the side of the car to get it.

          "Nice one, Battousai," Okina commented low enough so Kaoru couldn't hear.

          "What are you talking about?"

          "You traveling with a human, and a hot girl at that."

          Ken was mortified to hear the old man talking like that.  He was embarrassed for him yet again, but barely able to control a laugh.  To cover his discomfort, he tossed Okina the keys to the Jeep and moved behind the luggage cart.  "Tell the Shinomoris I said thanks."

          "Will do," the old man replied cheerfully.  "See you," he called to Kaoru as she came up to Ken's side with her carry on bag draped over her shoulder.

          They watched as he hopped into the car, tossed his luggage into the passenger seat, and jetted into the clogged street, and somehow managing to avoid an accident.  Ken shook his head, hoping he'd never have to see that particular old man again.

          "Well that was weird," Kaoru commented.

          "You don't want to know," Ken sighed.  "Let's go inside and find a porter to check our bags."

          "Ken, how did you manage to buy the tickets?  I didn't know you had ID," Kaoru asked curiously.

          "That's why I bought them last night.  I know a vampire who works here and owed me a favor.  He set it up after some persuading."

          "Persuading?" Kaoru asked, wondering just what that entailed.

          "It's better you don't know and he never sees you with me."

          "Okay," Kaoru said doubtfully.

          They found a porter to check their bags without any trouble and Ken tipped him handsomely.  The security check went smoothly and soon they were waiting in the departure area for the call to board.  Kaoru was standing in front of the big picture windows, watching the planes land and take off.  Ken was used to airports and didn't find them very impressive, but it was fun to watch her awe of the giant machines.  Not sensing any vampires or their contacts around, he softened and went to stand by her.

          "I never asked, how did you get away from those people at the club?" Ken asked, watching her watch a plane taxi down the runway.

          "Judo."

          "Judo?"

          "I flipped the girl over my shoulder when she tried to stop me from leaving.  Oh!" Kaoru remembered.  "I never told you what I found out."

          "So tell me now."

          She gazed out at the plane taking off into the night as she tried to recall the conversation.  So much had happened since then.  "He said he was offering me a temporary job for the next two nights.  He wanted me to be his partner's contact.  He offered me three thousand a night.  I didn't think they would have that kind of money."

          "Yeah.  Their leader's made a name for himself," Ken said grimly.

          "Well then I asked him how he could afford that and he said he worked for the 'dark one' and he and his buddy were on leave or something.  I told him I didn't believe him, and he showed me some tattoo on his wrist."

          Ken put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him.  "What did it look like?"

          "Hold on!  I'm going to tell you.  Not so tight, Ken," she said with a wince.

          "Sorry."  He released his hold on her.  "This is really important to me."

          "I know."  She searched his eyes for a moment before continuing.  "It was on his left wrist I think.  There was a tattoo of a black dagger stabbing a heart that was dripping blood.  The blood was the only color on the tattoo.  He said it was his mark and that if anyone faked it they'd die in three days.  Is that true?"

          "Yes."  So then it was the dark one's men.

          "How?  How would he know if some random person a world away forged his mark?"

          "He has a . . . sense about it.  He usually has one of his men do it.  Where exactly on his wrist was it?"  He wanted to be absolutely sure.

          "Underneath, why?"

          "No reason, just continue," Ken waved her on.  The dark one must be planning something if he was letting his people get away for a while.  Probably preparing for a long undercover activity and letting them get out a little bit.  Two nights, they wanted to hire Kaoru for.  So they'd be back wherever the dark one was the night after next, or at least on their way.

          "I said I was satisfied with the proof and he said I smelled healthy or something.  What's with that?  And I could get started right then if I wanted.  I said sure and those girls were leading me to the other guy when I ditched them at the top of the stairway and ran into you."

          "Who were the four vampires that I saw taking you to them?"

          "Just random people, probably guests at the club.  They said they were paid to take me up to the dark one's men.  Now just who is the dark one and how do all these vampires know I'm human by smelling me?"

          "We smell the blood.  That's why you stood out at the club.  It's hard to resist."  He swallowed hard just thinking about it.  "It's more subtle when you wear those earrings though."

          "What's it like?"

          "It's like a call, always beckoning to you.  But there are so many humans everywhere that you learn to ignore the ones that aren't healthy, or the ones whose souls are sick.  And after a while you even tune out the healthy ones, because there's almost always one with special energy."  He closed his eyes.  "You have to be able to hold yourself back because it's not good to drink in excess.  Most vampires drink just once every two weeks.  I do it once a month so I can afford one in between if I really need it."

          Kaoru studied him.  She wondered what kind of human she was.  As if he'd read her mind, he continued.

          "You have special energy.  That's why I hung around at the restaurant you worked at.  I knew I shouldn't, but for the first time since I first became a vampire, I could barely control myself again.  It was more than that though."

          Kaoru held her breath.  It had sure as hell better be more than that or he was going to get the beating of his life.  She almost laughed at herself.  What was she going to do?  Beat him up for not loving her?  She couldn't make him.  She was dismayed that she wished she could make him love her.  Why did she always have to get stuck in these situations?  He had turned away from her and didn't look like he was going to elaborate anytime soon.

          "First class, flight, 106, first call to board!" a stewardess called over the intercom in their area of the terminal.

          Kaoru sighed.  Looks like that was all she was going to get today.  Or tonight rather.  "Like I said before, I guess there are worse guys.  Did it have to be you though?  You never tell me anything," she half joked lightly.

          "It's for your own good."  He turned to her, an almost smile playing across his face.

          "Ken," she breathed, "tell me why you want to kill the dark one."

          He wondered how she knew.

          "You're constantly avoiding the subject.  Why are you so evasive about it?" she asked.

          "Let's board the plane, they called first class already," Ken said, angry that she'd dared to bring up the subject.

          Annoyed with him, she pushed away and strode towards where the airline personnel waited to take their tickets.  She knew he would follow.  It appeared that no matter how old men were, they never understood women.  Did they have no common sense?  She made up her mind not to talk to him unless he talked to her first.  He needed the silent treatment, how ever immature it was of her to do that.

          _Hey!  Long time no see.  Sure I can't persuade you to join the Sekihoutai?_

          _We've been over this.  I've had my fill of belonging to groups._

_            Well you sure helped us out last time, so I had to try.  Since you dropped by, why don't you come to a club with me?  I've got a couple nights off._

_            Nah, I'm not here for long.  Just wanted to drop in.  My plane leaves in an hour.  I should head back to the airport._

_            How'd you get here?_

_            Taxi._

_            I'll drive you back.  We've been buds for too long for me to just turn you lose into the night.  What if you and your short self get jumped?_

_            Watch the comments on my height, Sano.  And no one around here could ever beat me._

_            Sure, sure, Ken.  Wait 'til you see my car.  There's no way I'm letting you drive her._

_            I won't mind a chauffeur._

Kaoru hadn't said a word to him throughout the boarding and take off.  He couldn't understand what had made her angry.  Females always had to make things more complicated then they really were.  He wasn't going to tell her and that was supposed to be the end of the matter.  The contacts were definitely easier to deal with.  They knew that each of them was just using the other and were perfectly okay with that fact.  Well he wasn't using Kaoru and he didn't plan on making her his contact, but shouldn't she be okay with what he wanted?  Okay, maybe he was using her a little , but all the other women certainly hadn't been this touchy.  Even the one who had gotten him into all this mess hadn't objected to secrets between them.  Wasn't that a part of life?  You couldn't tell someone every single thing about yourself no matter how long you talked.  

          He realized that he was avoiding the real reason Kaoru was mad even in his mind.  Okay.  So she wanted him to tell her why he wanted to kill the dark one.  How had he responded to that?  Ken struggled to recall.  He'd dismissed the question because no humans were supposed to know anything more about the vampire culture than was necessary for them to function in it.  Most contacts knew about the dark one only because they needed to be aware of the vampire hierarchy.  But even the contact of a male or female vampire close to the dark one would not know anymore.  They only needed to know enough to fear him.They knew about the tattoo of his followers and never to forge it and that was about it.  

          But Kaoru was asking for more.  What if she happened to mention whatever Ken told her, _if_ he ever told her anything, and got herself killed for knowing too much?  But then again, he was out to kill the dark one.  That wasn't much of a secret.  It wasn't as if she wouldn't be traced to him sooner or later, and if that happened before the dark one was killed, she'd be captured and tortured.  So it didn't really matter if she knew anything or not.  She my as well not know anything.  On the other hand, didn't she deserve to know what she was getting into by going to California with him?  He wasn't going to stop in his hunt for the dark one.  Not even she could convince him to do that.  Maybe he should tell her just enough to satisfy her curiosity.  It wouldn't put her much more at risk if she knew why he wanted to kill the dark one after all, if she knew why he wouldn't stop until he did, not even for her.  

          He opened his mouth and looked at her before he realized that he would stop, would have to stop, for her.  He wouldn't be happy about it, but he would have no choice but to do as she asked, for the same reason he couldn't say her name out loud.  It was just a risk he'd have to take because he couldn't stand the way she had so completely and effectively blocked him out of her life.

          She glanced over and saw him looking at her, but let her glance travel right across his without a glint of acknowledgment and to the stewardess who was asking if they wanted anything to drink.

          "Just water, please."

          "And you sir?"

          "Nothing."

          The stewardess handed Kaoru an Aquafina water bottle across Ken and moved on to the next row.  Kaoru was silent once more.  She pulled her headphones down from overhead and was about to put them on when Ken decided he couldn't stand it anymore.  So he was beaten in a test of wills by this twenty year old college kid who had only given him the silent treatment for forty-five minutes?  He'd been ignored for a whole month once and still hadn't caved in.  No one had to know about this but him and her, and who was she going to tell?  He took the headphones away from her and put them back up over her head.  She didn't even protest, just looked at him pointedly.  Well at least she wasn't going to gloat about it.

          "If you want to know why I have to kill the dark one, then you have to know about my friend Sano," he sighed, not looking at her.

          "I want to know, Ken.  Chasing after this dark one sounds like it could get you killed.  I want to know why you're risking both our lives.  You've been very selfish."

          So now she was preaching to him?  He decided to ignore that last scolding and just continue anyway.  It was no use trying to make her understand why he'd risked her life too.  Even he didn't really understand and couldn't say anything better than 'It seemed like a good idea at the time.'  But he was sorry he'd done it.  Well kind of.  Well, he'd tell her he was sorry if she asked.  He wasn't completely under her control after all.  He still had his pride.  Mostly.  As long as she didn't catch on.

          "Do you want to hear it or not?" he asked, glancing reproachfully at her.

          "Fine.  I'll shut up."

          "Good.  I met Sano at a bar in Kamakura, Japan in 1876, eight years after the revolution."

          "So it was during the Meji era?" Kaoru asked, forgetting her promise that she'd shut up.

          Ken was surprised that she'd known, but annoyed that she'd interrupted.  "Yeah.  Are you going to let me talk or what?"

          "Sorry," Kaoru apologized, putting on her best contrite face.  It seemed to satisfy him.

          "I'd already been a vampire for about seventy-five years by that time and was just hanging around Tokyo after having ditched these hunters in the mountains in Hokkaido.  He found me in the bar because he was new to the whole thing and the vampire who'd turned him had sacrificed his life for Sano when some hunters found them."

          _Run, Sanosuke, I'll hold them off!_

_            But Captain Sagara, I can't leave you!_

_            Run dammit!_

          "He was from Hakone.  He had no one to turn to until he got the hang of his new senses and found me."  

          _My name's Sano.  I was turned a couple nights ago.  Listen, do you know a place I could stay?  My parents kicked me out when I told them._

          "I traveled alone back then, but he attached himself to me, so I figured I'd let him tag along.  Of course he brought his own problems and took a little getting used to, but after a while we became friends.  We traveled around Japan together, always winding up back in Hakone, because that was where this woman lived.  Then later she relocated to Tokyo, so we visited her there.  She was a doctor and had known Sano since she moved north from the Izu Peninsula.  They were in love and it broke both of their hearts every time he dropped in to see her, but he always went.  She knew what he was and that she could never become one. When she got married and had kids we visited less and less.  Sano wanted to put distance between himself and Japan, so we stayed in other countries, but the memory of her would always draw him back in the end and we'd rush back to Japan.  I remember the day he saw her granddaughter.  Sano told me she looked just like Megumi at her age."  __

_            It was like a blast from the past.  Her granddaughter answered the door._

_            So?  She turn you away?_

_            She's just the age Megumi was when I met her.  She looks exactly like her, same stuck up expression, same laugh too._

_            I'm sorry._

          "Her husband was dead by that time.  Sano started worrying that she would die, but it was too late to turn her, even if she'd let him.  He blamed me for a while for not letting him work on Megumi to convince her, but he knew being a vampire was no way to live and he was happy that she'd had a happy life.  We weren't gone when she died, I'm thankful for that.  It was 1923, springtime, the cherry blossoms were blooming.  He was there with her.  Her relatives had gone for the doctor."

          _I love you, Sanosuke._

_            Megumi!  Don't talk-_

_            No.  I have to say this.  I've loved you all my life, but I'm glad I didn't give in to you and turn into what you are.  When you die I'll see you in the afterlife, alright?_

_            Megumi!  I'm already dead.  I have to live forever without you now._

_            This world isn't forever, Sano.  Don't be afraid to move on.  I know you have a soul._

"When she died he grieved for so long.  I couldn't begin to understand the depth of it, so I let him be.  We traveled far across the world and didn't go back to Japan after that."

          Kaoru could understand.  She wondered what it was like for Sano.  She realized that she and Ken were in the same position as he and Megumi had been.  Well, kind of.  She wasn't in love with him or anything and she scoffed at the idea that he would be in love with her.  Still, there was that special something about him.  She hoped whatever was between her and Ken ended better than Sano and Megumi's sad story, but there was no way she was going to become a vampire!  No way in heaven or hell.

          "We were best friends and hung around each other for decades just having fun until Sano got restless," Ken continued.  "He needed a purpose.  So around 1950 he joined this underground vampire group called the Sekihoutai.  That was the end of us traveling together because I refused to join.  I had had enough of secret groups before I became a vampire.  We split up and I visited him at his headquarters in Spain when he wasn't on a mission every couple years.  Even though I missed him, it wasn't hard to go back to how I'd lived before I met him, just exploring the world alone."

          Kaoru reached for Ken's hand and held it, happy when he didn't pull away.

          "The news of the dark one emerged in 1976.  I remember because I was in the States at the time, and they were still recovering from Vietnam.  Sano and a team of other operatives in the Sekihoutai were assigned to find and kill the dark one ten years later.  He'd been gathering followers and killing humans or turning them into vampires.  He had to be stopped, but no one knew where he was.  Sano and his team found the dark one right away.  That probably should have told them it was a trap, but they thought they had him fooled.  Sano's whole team was killed.  He was the only one who escaped."

          Kaoru shuddered.  It sounded a lot like the theme for the first Mission Impossible movie.  Only that kind of stuff wasn't supposed to happen in real life.  

          "I don't know if the experience changed him more than Megumi's death, but he was a driven man after that.  I visited him once and was disquieted at what I saw.  The dark one was his whole life.  By then the dark one was so influential that he'd had the top members of the Sekihoutai killed, since they were the most threat to him and his followers.  I tried to get Sano to lay low for a few years, but he wouldn't listen, just went on hunting the dark one and being reckless about it."  

Kaoru listened to the inflections in Ken's voice.  He'd sounded sad when retelling the love affair of Sano and Megumi, but now the anger in his tone made his voice sharp and hard as diamond.  Then it changed to regret with his next sentence.  He stared down at his hands as he talked.

"I didn't think the dark one really cared about Sano, or that Sano would ever find him, so I decided to wait until he'd cooled down and left on a trip around the world.  Sano found him in 1990 and was killed.  I dropped by headquarters a year later and the vampires of the remaining Sekihoutai told me.  The dark one ruined Sano's life.  He was young when he became a vampire, and young when he died.  I've sworn to kill the dark one before he takes more lives.  But he's wary of me.  I've been looking twelve years now."

          Kaoru mulled the story over in her mind.  So the dark one had killed Ken's best friend.  She supposed that was reason enough for her to be bent on revenge if she was in Ken's place, but twelve years!  Ken was so persistent.  And it was all for his friend, Sanosuke.  She didn't know what she'd expected to hear, just not a story like that.  She was still confused as to why he didn't tell her before.

          "That's a sad story, Ken.  I'm sorry that happened to him.  I wish I could've met him and Megumi."

          Ken nodded miserably, looking down at their interlaced fingers.

          "Does the Sekihoutai still exist?"

          "Yes, but they're scattered.  I saw one of the members in New York, Sano's best friend in the organization, Katsu.  He's an okay guy."

          "Thanks for telling me why you want to find the dark one.  I'll go along with whatever you say.  I want to help you get him."

          Ken was relieved that she didn't press for an explanation as to how he got to be a vampire.  She might get a little annoyed at that.  She seemed content to mull it over.  He sat back, still holding her hand, and recalled bittersweet memories of Sano.

          _Yo__, why did we come to __Russia__ again?_

_            It was your turn to pick, not mine.  This is all your fault, Sano._

_            You shouldn't have let me.  And I thought __Hokkaido__ was bad this time of year._

_            We're never coming here again.  And that trip to see the penguins, forget about it!_

_            Aw come on, at least we can't get frostbite._

_            Sano!  We're vampires!  If we're shivering in the cold it's got to be fifty degrees below zero!_

_            Then let's head to that last town and get warm again._

_            I don't think I'll ever be warm again._

_            You will once we get some girls._

          Ah Los Angles.  Ken reflected that he hadn't been there in around twenty years.  That meant no contacts.  Oh well.  He had a month to wait until he could safely drink from a human again anyway.  He searched for Kaoru in the crowd.  She'd gone to get their bags while he'd found a taxi that would take them and their luggage to a car dealer.  He felt a little uneasy about the fact that he didn't know exactly where she was, but he could feel her energy thrumming in the background of his thoughts, reassuring his mind that she was near.  

          He had enough money to afford buying a car.  It wouldn't be a new one, but they could deal with that.  As long as it had air conditioning.  He saw Kaoru's ponytail bobbing in the crowd and walked over to her, still pouring over the newspaper for potential apartments.  They'd have to stop by the housing office if he didn't find one.  They only needed it for a week tops.  By then the hunters would be off her back if they hadn't already picked up on the fact that she wasn't in town, and it would be safe for him to send her back.  And anyway, the whole thing with the dark one would be over one way or another.  He reminded himself to get around to reserving a plane ticket for her in case he wasn't around.  

          Okay, he decided to be honest with himself, unless the dark one beat him after all and he was dead.  He wasn't going to let anything happen to her.  He would have to leave her with instructions on how to get back home.  She'd be leaving in the day of course.  He'd have to make sure to go after the dark one a couple hours before dawn.  That way they could never track down where he was staying before she left.  Assuming they could find a place at- He checked his watch- three o'clock in the morning.  It would have to be a pretty shady apartment or a pretty desperate landlord.  Most likely a combination of the two would do.  Did he have any contacts in the housing business?  Um, no.  Not in LA anyway.  How about someone with an apartment?  Again, nope.  Any vampires at all in LA?  Plenty, but who knew where the hell they were?  There were still at least three hours left in the night.  They were probably snacking on something.  Mmmm.  A snack sounded good about now.  There were some healthy livestock outside of LA.  Maybe he and Kaoru would be taking a little side trip…

          "So what's the plan, Ken?  Where are we going to stay?" Kaoru broke into his thoughts.

          "Don't get ahead of yourself.  First we're going to find a taxi and go to a dealership."

          Kaoru looked at him doubtfully.  "Are there any open this time of night?"

          Ken favored her with a disdainful gaze.  "This is LA.  There's always something open.  It's like New York, only snobbier."

          Kaoru laughed.  "That's a very stereotypical thing to say, especially when you're surrounded by people from LA."

          "No it's not.  I'm sure they're all gaga over the Lakers too.  I can't stand that team."

          Kaoru laughed even more.  "I didn't take you for the type that keeps up with sports."

          "One of my contacts is an American basketball fanatic.  Not to mention the fact that a lot of vampires like to bet on who wins games.  Breaks up the monotony."

          Kaoru sobered a bit when Ken mentioned his contacts, but he had her curious again.  "Do you bet money?  I can't see that it would be worth that much to you." She observed, watching as Ken started loading their luggage onto the trolley.

          "Sometimes.  More likely we do a dare to keep it fun."

          "A dare?  Give me an example."

          "Once I lost and I had to stalk the most skilled hunter of the time for a night without him knowing.  That was interesting.  I almost had a stake through my heart that time."  Ken chuckled.

          Kaoru looked at him incredulously.  "I hope you've grown up a little since then.  That was immature and you could've died."

          Ken shrugged.  "So?  It was worth it for the rush of exhilaration that instant I thought he'd discovered me.  You haven't grown out of roller coasters, have you?" he asked, favoring her with a glance that was almost amused.  He supposed it was kind of endearing the way she fussed over him sometimes, if still annoying.

          "No.  I haven't.  But that's completely different from risking my life stalking some hunter who's out to kill me."

          "People have died on roller coasters", Ken said mildly, steering the baggage cart through the crowd toward the exit.

          "It's not the same.  There's a greater chance of a vampire dying stalking a hunter than a human dying riding a roller coaster, and you know it," Kaoru told him firmly as she followed after Ken.  "Don't try to play it off.  You have to promise me that you won't bet anymore, Ken, at least not while I'm around."

          "No.  If I need information and the best way is to bet, then that is what I'm going to do and nothing you can say is going to stop me."  Ken rolled his eyes, glad Kaoru couldn't see as his back was toward her.  He could feel the strength of her frown beating against his back and almost grimaced.  He didn't think he was up for another silent treatment, but he was not going to promise her what she wanted only to break his promise.  She might never trust him again if he did.  So if she didn't decide to back off then they would just have to both be unhappy for a while, until she caved in.  But Kaoru seemed to know when no was no and when she could mess with him.  She was silent until they reached the oppressive heat of the LA night.

          "Wow.  It's a lot worse here," she commented, shrugging out of her jacket.  "Nicer inside.  How about I go wait inside until you get a cab?" she suggested, half teasing.

          "Um. No." Ken raised his arm in the air and two cabs came flying towards him.  They somehow managed to avoid a fender bender, the winner pulling up in on the curb in front of Ken, the loser beeping its horn loudly and driving away in a cloud of exhaust.

          "Cabs always ignore me," Kaoru sulked.

          "Help me load the bags into the trunk," Ken commanded, ignoring her sulking and nodding to the driver.

          _I don't like this, Ken.  Why are the humans strapping themselves into those giant steel tracks?_

_            It's an amusement park.  That's what they come here to do._

_            But they're screaming._

_            They're not scared.  The worst thing that happens to them is they get an upset stomach and puke._

_            But those steel cars could flip over.  Hey!  We're in line for one of those crazy rides!_

_            Yes we are.  And you're going on too._

_            There's no way in hell I'm going on that!_

_            Stop staring at it.  You'll sike yourself out.  And don't be a baby.  Seven year old children are dying to go on it.  You'll live._

_            There's something wrong with this generation…_

          "I can't believe you wouldn't let me into the dealership with you, Ken.  What was I going to do, mess up your bargaining strategy?  You're always leaving me behind."

          "Why are you so bitchy lately?" Ken asked bluntly, shifting the car into third gear as they sped along a highway.

          "You've got a lot of nerve.  You act like you've got PMS 24/7," Kaoru muttered.  Los Angeles was NOT agreeing with her.  The taxi driver had been horrible, she was coughing every few minutes from the bad air, and Ken was back to being bossy and egotistical.  And he had just said she was bitchy!  She had half a mind to just leave him during the day.  But where would she go?  And who in their right mind would want to leave Ken anyway?  Sou had never taken her to LA for a relaxing vacation mixing with the movie stars and maybe getting discovered.  Well Ken wasn't either.  What a choice in men she was left with.  

Wait, Sou was the perfect boyfriend. He was nice, normal.  When he went out with the guys he called her if it was going to conflict with their plans.  He was human.  Well Ken, if that was his real name, used to be human.  There was a chance that Sou could be turned into a vampire or something.  Then who would she like better?  That situation would really suck.  Hopefully Ken would never meet Sou and Sou would never know about Ken.  Ken didn't seem to care about Sou, at least he hadn't said anything about him to her.  With the way he was acting now, it was a wonder he didn't drop her by the side of the road somewhere and call it a night.  She wouldn't be surprised if he did, hurt, but not surprised.

"Something's bugging you," Ken observed.

Kaoru frowned and turned her face away, staring at her reflection in the window.  "I'm fine.  Where are we going?"

"The car dealer happened to have a brother who owns an apartment building.  He called and told him we were coming.  That's where we're staying for the next few days."

          "Why not a hotel?" Kaoru asked, not really interested in the reason.

          "It's cheaper this way.  I don't have enough money left to pay for a hotel and food in a restaurant every night.  Buy some supplies for yourself this afternoon."

          Kaoru sighed.  "Fine.  Do you need anything?  I don't remember ever seeing you eat."

          "Just get what you need for yourself.  I'll go and feed tomorrow when I first wake," Ken answered, thinking of a nice healthy piece of livestock and the feel of its veins pulsing under his teeth right before he-

          "How much longer until we get there?" Kaoru broke into this thoughts, her tone irate.  "I'm tired and I want to go to sleep."

          He sighed, too quiet for her to hear.  "Catch as much as you can in the car then.  We've still got a half hour drive."

          He watched as she used her jacket for a pillow and curled up, her back to him.  She had a nice ass.  He stopped himself from thinking any further and turned his concentration back to the road.

**Well here's the long awaited Chapter 5 of Silver Cross.  I hope it was worth the wait.  Tell me what you thought.  It was kind of slow in the action department, but things will definitely be picking up soon, like the next chapter.  Not too much Ken and Kaoru WAFF here, but there was a little in the beginning right?  Again, PLEASE tell me what you thought.  Your feedback is VERY appreciated.  Love, love, love,**

**Aryanne.******

**Press that button, plz!**


	6. Apartment in Aliso Village

**A/N – Well here it is, the next chapter of Silver Cross.  Oh, yeah.  Thank you to all the reviewers who reviewed chapter five.  Here's a list:**

**JML, Hitokiri-miao miao, aglaia102, The Girl Who Cried Oro, Poppy2, fyyrrose, Setine, moonmusic, Koneko Battousai, Videl 621, bitchy brunette, Iceman19, Riokai Guardian of the Night, anonymous writer, EEevee, Hiromi, kyanti, lilk0k0, mayabf93, InsanexPsycho, Clepto fairy, Naiya-Metsuki**

**Disclaimer – Hmm.****  I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.  I don't own Nissan.**

****

**Silver Cross**

****

**Chapter 6 – Apartment in ****Aliso****Village******

_Are we there yet?_

_            No._

_            Are we there yet?_

_            No!  Shut up._

_            You shut up._

_            Shut up and let me drive already._

_            Fuck you._

_            Just shut up._

_            Fine . . . Are we there yet?_

_            I said no!_

_            Jeez.  You don't have to get all touchy about it._

          She can sleep through anything, Ken found himself thinking as he drove up route 110 through downtown LA.  He was feeling pretty confident now that he had transportation, a hopefully safe place to stay, and Kaoru was there.  Los Angeles was interesting at night.  He found himself noting the slight changes of the city.  He hadn't been there in a while because Orange County, CA was very popular with vampires.  All the tourists and people down on their luck after not having made it in the entertainment industry were easy prey for vampires, so vampire hunters had frequented the city.  But once the dark one had emerged, the dance between vampire and hunter had seemed to slow.  

Life was intimately more dangerous for the vampire hunter now that the dark one had control over much of the underlying vampire world.  The only people whose positions had not changed were those ignorant of the vampire culture that existed alongside their own, and the human contacts.  Ken glanced over at Kaoru for a second.  She may not know it, but until she decided to either become a contact or drop out of the vampire culture forever, she was at an elevated risk, especially with her special energy that seemed to have increased the longer she stayed in contact with him.  He was exceedingly glad she was wearing those earrings.  They muted her aura from the vampires' senses.  Of course, he supposed there was another way.  But he wouldn't even consider turning her into one of his kind.  She was too beautiful.  Her energy was too stunning to erase by turning her.  He couldn't curse her with the pain of living forever, feeding on what she once was just to go on.  No matter how much he wanted her near him until the end of time, he couldn't burden her with the feelings of depression, oppression, and unrest that plagued him whenever he was not with her, every time he woke.

Of course the last time he had woken, she had been there.  Even now he wondered why.  It could not be the attraction to his energy or his soul, like he felt for her.  He had only the faint energy he'd gleaned from living things and his soul was long ago lost.  Even now it sent a shiver through him to remember how he'd woken and sensed a presence in the room, but not been alert enough to realize it was her.  And then she'd woken and come straight to him, had been waiting for him, without those earrings on.  And she'd let him kiss her and be near her, to envelop himself in her glow for a time and gain strength from her.  It wasn't the kind of strength he stole from his contacts either, that was physical.  This was more spiritual.  She gave him the will to keep going, keep searching for the dark one with a renewed passion, not the listless fervor he'd existed in since he'd heard the news of Sano's death.  As long as she was there, the world he'd trekked and flown and sailed and hitchhiked across for so long didn't seem as monotonous, as old and weary as it had before he met her, since Sano had died.  Ken realized that he hadn't even known he was living without a will to go on until he'd sensed her in that restaurant.

She stirred as he turned east onto 3rd street, and her breathing became less regular, increasing as her heart began to speed up and her mind to drift up from the depths of what ever dream land it had been wandering through.  He idly wondered what she dreamed about as he listened to the changes in her body and heard the slight shifting of her clothes as she snuggled into the seat.  He wondered at the sensitivity of humans to such mild temperatures and turned the air conditioning off.  He knew she was completely awake when she began breathing through her nose instead of her mouth.  She yawned at sat up slowly in her seat as he turned the car north onto Central Avenue.

"Where are we?" she asked in a sleep filled voice, turning to face him.  Her voice was mild and a little raspy, Ken knew it would sooth him to sleep if he listened to her long enough.

"We're downtown.  That's Little Tokyo out the window.  I want to stop by there tomorrow night," he answered her.  He smiled when she immediately practically plastered herself to the car window, drinking in the early morning sites.

"Wow! A shrine!  And a fire-tower!  Slow down, you're driving too fast," she complained, the traces of sleep gone from her voice for the moment.

"You can see it all tomorrow," he reminded her as he stopped the car at a red light.  "Tonight we need to get the apartment, remember?"  He pressed his feet to the ground and elevated his body, searching around in his back pocket for his cell phone.  "Here, call the owner.  He's in the address book as Christian Rodriguez."

Kaoru nodded and dialed the phone.  "What do you want me to say to him?"

"Tell him you're Mrs. Sato and you and your husband will be arriving momentarily.  Then ask him where he wants to meet us.  Just butter him up."

Kaoru nodded as the phone was picked up.  "Hello.  This is Mrs. Sato," she began in a friendly voice.  "No, the trip went very well.  I must confess I slept through a lot of it though . . . Yes, we're turning onto 1st avenue now . . . No, we haven't crossed the bridge yet . . . Where should we meet you then . . . Alright, we'll come right up and knock then . . . No, this is my first trip to LA, but my husband's been here before . . . Yes.  I plan on getting lots of sleep . . .  I'll talk to you soon then."  Kaoru pressed the end button with a sigh.  "He certainly seemed happy to be renting out this apartment, even for such a short time.  You don't think he'll wonder when you don't go outside in the day though?  I mean, we could say jet lag at first, but how long will that last?" Kaoru fretted, handing Ken back his cell phone.

"Don't worry about it now.  We'll worry about that if he starts asking questions."

Kaoru sighed.  "I guess you're right.  And since when are we married anyway?" she asked with a smile.

"Well I couldn't say you were my sister.  We look nothing alike.  Besides, the married thing is more accepted," Ken defended his decision.

"Are you sounding a little defensive in there somewhere, Ken?" Kaoru asked in a teasing voice.

"No," he said flatly.

"You're still acting like you have PMS, Ken.  Hey, do female vampires have that anyway?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Oh come on.  You've been a vampire for over a century.  You have to have found out by now.  I know you got curious at one point.  So do they?" she asked once again.

"No."

"Ha!  I knew you knew if they did or not!"  Kaoru stated triumphantly.  Beating Ken at a game of words was a lot of fun, she discovered.  She bet he could usually talk anyone into the ground.  He could sure embarrass her if he felt like it.  Not that she'd ever tell him that.  She didn't want to even imagine the torment that would come her way if that were to happen.  Ken didn't react to her winning in the game of words, so that kind of took all the enjoyment out of it.  The ride across the river to Aliso Village was silent.  Ken wasn't inclined to talk and Kaoru was letting herself enjoy the site of Little Tokyo and then the Los Angeles river as they faded away behind them.  Ken pulled into a lot on a street lighted road and parked the car.

"The apartment building is on our left.  Carry whatever you can.  I'll come back out for the rest of the bags," Ken instructed, getting out of the car and heading to the back to open the luggage compartment of the Nissan.

Kaoru followed, making sure to grab her jacket and purse.  She shut her door and walked around the side of the car, her sneakers crunching on the gravel of the parking lot.  "Hand me the red bag.  It's got essentials in it."

"Essentials?" Ken asked, raising an eyebrow and reaching into the car for the suitcase.

"That's for me and Kamatari to know," Kaoru sniffed at him, taking the bag and waiting for him to grab as much as he could.  "Does this place have an elevator?" she asked.

"Yes.  We're on the sixth floor," Ken informed her, slamming the car door and turning to walk to the apartment.

"You're supposed to be a good husband.  Wait for me," Kaoru said, annoyed.

Ken rolled his eyes and stopped.  "Sorry."

"I could hear the sarcasm in that tone," Kaoru mock-scolded.

"I'm so sorry.  Will you ever forgive me?" Ken said in a sincere tone.  It was really too bad he had a smirk on his face.

Kaoru marched past him.  "You're a trip, Ken."  She smiled when she knew he couldn't see her expression.

"Then why'd you marry me?" he asked, following her.

"I was married before I knew it," she answered wryly.  Hearing Ken chuckle, she laughed.

"I had my doubts about a couple coming in at five o'clock in the morning, but you two seem okay," a new voice broke in.  A short, rather chubby Hispanic man dressed in his nightclothes opened the door to the apartment's main entrance and spoke without a trace of an accent.  "Mr. and Mrs. Sato, correct?" he asked.

"Yes.  Pleased to meet you, Mr. Rodriguez," Kaoru smiled.

"Yes.  Thanks a lot for the apartment, sir," Ken put in, sounding for all the world like any average young American male with a pretty wife on vacation.

"Glad to help out a nice couple like yourselves.  Hope my brother treated you fairly at the car dealership.  Let me get that bag for you Mrs. Sato, since your husband seems loaded down enough already."

"Thanks," Kaoru said gratefully.

"Oh.  Here's the key.  I'll just be handing it to you then and show you both up to the apartment."

The ride up to the room was filled with idle chatter from the landlord, who was looking quite comfortable in his pajamas and bathrobe.  The two men dropped Kaoru off in the apartment and went back downstairs to get the rest of the luggage.  Kaoru took the opportunity to change into her pajamas and a t-shirt quickly as she reflected on how natural Ken seemed with the landlord.  She supposed he just wanted to make a good impression.  She was coming out of the bathroom when she heard Ken come back in and say goodbye to the landlord.

"Where are you?" he called from the living room.

"Right here, Ken," she answered, coming into the living room.  "I checked out the apartment.  Unless you want to sleep in the bathroom, the only place you can stay is the bedroom.  It's only got big balcony windows.  There are shutters and thick curtains that should shut out the light well enough.  Is that okay with you?"

Ken was surprised that she'd looked into sleeping accommodations already.  "Sure."

"I put your night clothes in the bathroom and your tooth brush and all, so you can get ready for bed in there.  I think you've only got a half hour left, right?" Kaoru instructed.  "Go ahead.  I want to unpack a little."

Ken shrugged and went into the bathroom.

Kaoru grumbled.  "The least he could've said was thanks.  Guys are so insensitive sometimes."

_That client said I was insensitive._

_Why?_

_She said she was on her period, so she wasn't giving blood._

_You make it sound like we're the red cross or something._

_You know what I mean, Ken._

_Women are touchy, that's all.  It was a female right?  Or is there something you're not telling me?_

_Shut up!  Of course it was.  How could a guy be on their period!  Don't be a prick.  Do you think I'm insensitive._

_You're Sano.  How could you not be insensitive?_

_What?!_

_It's what makes you, you._

_Did you tell her to say that?_

_Yeah._

Kaoru had taken off her earrings so they wouldn't catch in her hair and was brushing the long tresses in front of the mirror in the bedroom when she felt a slight touch on her neck, faint, then seeming to evaporate away into the air.

"How's it going?" Ken asked, moving away from her and starting to explore the room.

Kaoru blinked and turned around.  There he was, right behind her, stuffing his shoes underneath the bed.  She turned back to the mirror.  No one was there but her reflection, which looked slightly surprised for a moment.  She began to braid her hair up for the night, the master bed reflected behind her a focal point of her thoughts.

"I didn't know it was true that you can't see a vampire's reflection in the mirror," she marveled softly.

"Yes.  You can't," Ken said mildly.  "I can see mine.  It's only humans that can't."

"Wow."  Kaoru said appreciatively.  "You learn something new everyday."  She was pleased with herself for not being spooked out.  Perhaps she was learning to adjust to Ken's world after all.  Maybe she'd be able to understand him better soon.  Hmm, and there was something about Ken in pajama pants and a white t-shirt that said yummy.

"Are you going to sleep with me tonight?" he asked, suddenly turning to her.

Kaoru was immediately indignant.  But there was nothing more than an interested expression on his face.  So he hadn't been talking about sex.

"I don't want to bother you, Ken."  She finished the braid and wrapped a hair tie around the end.

"No.  I've been thinking about it, and  I decided I like you.  There hasn't been anyone there when I wake up in a long time," he explained with a tinge of wistfulness in his tone.

Kaoru laughed.  "It took you this long to figure out if you like me or not?"

"Not really.  I just didn't feel like telling you before."

"Well that's a little jerkish, don't you think?" Kaoru said.

"No.  Will you though?  Don't you trust me?" Ken asked.

"Yes," Kaoru answered slowly.

"Alright then."

There was silence as Ken made sure the shutters were closed securely and shut the curtains.  Kaoru walked over to the bed and slid in between the sheets, which had thankfully come with the apartment, as Ken turned off the bedroom lights and left the room.  She could hear him moving around in the apartment, making sure everything was locked.  He must be in a considerate mood to let her hear his movements.  He was usually as silent as the dead.  He must've gotten quieter though, because she didn't know he was back in the room until she heard the door shut softly and felt him slide into bed beside her.

"Oyasuminasai," she whispered, her back to him.  Still, she knew he was there. For once they hadn't ended up in this situation by accident.  That made it seem scarier somehow, but only because she wanted Ken to do more than just sleep.  Not sex of course, but at least to talk.  As if he had read her mind, he spoke.

"I'm not tired yet.  Would you mind talking?" he asked, voice low.

She closed her eyes to drink in the sound of his voice.  "Sure," Kaoru agreed lightly.  She wondered what Ken wanted to talk about.  Maybe more of his past…

"Thanks.  I don't deserve you," Ken said softly, gently reaching out and placing his hands around her waist, pulling her towards him.

"Don't say that," Kaoru admonished gravely, though she was surprised and happy to be in such close contact with him.  "You can't decide what or who you do and don't deserve."

"Really?"  Ken's voice in the dark sounded bemused.

"Really.  God decides that.  So obviously, if I'm here, then you deserve to know me," Kaoru reasoned to him.  "You'll probably always feel like you don't though.  A lot of people get that impression when they meet me," she added matter-of-factly.

"Yeah right."  Ken was surprised at how easily she'd turned his statement around.  He'd never thought of it that way before.  He remembered that he could never resist being this close to her for very long.  Her soul was calling to him.  He wished he could touch it.  He decided to do the next best thing and kissed the back of her neck in the dark.  

Kaoru felt her eyes widen in surprise at the soft touch, but she soon relaxed and twisted around in Ken's arms to face him.  It was enough to feel his breath on her face in the dark.  She could sense his lips drawing closer and closed her eyes to wait for the moment.  

He knew there was no way she could see him, but he could see her with his heightened senses.  She looked serene and happy, waiting patiently for him to get up the nerve and kiss her.  He wondered if she understood that when she kissed him it was like she was kissing more than just his body, but his soul, or what was left of it.  He gave in to the call of her soul, her energy, and gave her what she wanted, what they both wanted.  He was so afraid of hurting her.  He cast away the thought of any bad consequences of his actions and gave himself to this kiss.  She immediately relaxed and melted against him.  He closed his eyes, relishing the moment as she explored his mouth, her tongue silky and warm.

"Why don't you act like this all the time?" Kaoru asked after they broke apart.

"I can't present a weak front to the vampire world.  They'd all attack me and I wouldn't be able to protect you."

"I make you look weak?" Kaoru asked, tensing and sounding a little angry.  "That's why?"

"No.  You make me weak," Ken corrected her, kissing the corner of her mouth and sliding his hands around her waist underneath her t-shirt.  "I can't let anything happen to you."

"What you say and what you do are so different, Ken," Kaoru sighed.

"Then tomorrow night we'll just see the sites of LA.  Okay?"

"It's always more than that.  You just want to check up on the town."

Ken chuckled.  "You know me too well.  But we really will do nothing but see the sites while I'm checking out the town, okay?  No running away from vampires with guns.  We'll go to a nice restaurant around eleven and work from there.  This one night I'm just going to try and make you happy.  Didn't you say you've never been to LA before?"

"Yes," Kaoru confirmed, allowing a slight smile to play across her features.  "That sounds nice.  If it really happens that is," she added in a faintly longing tone.

"It will," Ken confirmed, a little hurt that she didn't believe him.

Kaoru suddenly pushed away from him, suddenly annoyed.  "It better then.  I'm going to be real mad when it doesn't turn out how you say it will.  I'm sorry, Ken, but I can't even begin to deal with you when you can't act natural around me."  She sat up in the bed and slid from under the covers.  "And what am I thinking?!  I can't share a bed with you!  We're not really married!  God, why am I so dumb?!"  She grabbed a pillow and hopped off of the bed.

Ken was in shock.  What was all this about?  Hadn't she just kissed him a minute ago?  It wasn't like he was going to rape her or seduce her or anything.  It had just been so hard joking around with the landlord and acting as if Kaoru was his wife.  He only wished it could be that way.  She was so young and strong with her powerful soul and the faith in God he could sense dwelling within her.  He wished he had an ounce of that faith.  It would make life, whatever life you could call his existence, much more livable.  He'd had the crazy notion, coming up the stairs the last time with one of Kaoru's bags, that she could help him find that faith.  But no, she was leaving, and he realized that he had to stay true to his goal of finding the dark one and sending it to hell.  So Ken watched in silence as Kaoru yanked a sheet off the bed and fumbled around the room.  She left, careful to draw the door tightly shut, against the dawn he supposed.  He heard her bump into a few pieces of furniture before lying down on the couch with an angry sigh.  The sun was about to rise.  He gave into sleep as it stole upon him and let his mind depart for distant shores.

Kaoru let out a frustrated sigh as she curled up on the couch and drew the covers around her.  This whole thing is wrong, she found herself thinking.  Life would be so much simpler if I just gave up on Ken and did whatever he told me to and didn't asked questions until he takes me home.  Hell, life would be so much simpler if I had never met him, if I'd just ignored that note he left me and gone home.  I'd be content, well maybe a little regretful that I hadn't found out who he was.  I wouldn't know vampires existed and they wouldn't give a damn about me.  I've got to watch out for that Shinomori character, I can just picture him coming after me one night, or his Oniwaban crew, whoever they are.  

I wouldn't have this conflict about Sou.  Oh my gosh!  I haven't called Sou in what feels like ages.  I really should before he gets worried.  I guess I'll call my parents too, that should only take a few minutes.  I wonder where they are on their cruise right this moment?  Do I miss Sou?  Yes.  He's my friend.  I can tell him anything.  I sure can't tell Ken anything.  I don't get the feeling he cares to know what I feel sometimes.  Well, a lot of the time.  Then why am I so attracted to him?  I just wish he was happier, but he's got his whole revenge quest going.  That's about the only thing going for him right now.  But he did say he likes me.  I guess that was supposed to mean a lot.  One second I'm convinced I've fallen for Ken and the next I wish he'd touch my damn silver cross earrings.  He's not going to have a purpose left after he faces the dark one, and it doesn't even sound like he cares if he lives or dies.  Well I care!  It sucks caring more about someone then they do about themselves.  I could strangle him, I really could!  She frowned and punched the couch.  Dumb guys.  Ken made her so angry she felt like crying.  Sunlight was streaming through the curtains before Kaoru fell asleep.

_Do you think clubs are better to find contacts in, or college frat parties?_

_I think they're about equal if you want a temporary contact.  That's the kind you're talking about, right?_

_Yeah, I think I should make a survey and pass it around with the guys as long as we're here in the __U.S.__  I know they'll get a kick out of it._

_Don't you have anything better to do._

_No._

_Oh.  Okay then._

Five o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday in California meant . . . Kaoru did some calculations in her head, fiddling with an earring.  That meant it was nine in the morning on Monday for Sou.  She called his cell using the phone Ken had given her.  He'd told her at one point that it featured worldwide service.

"Kaoru!" Sou's voice greeted her after three rings.  He sounded his usual cheerful self.

"Hi, Sou," Kaoru said softly, she'd forgotten how great it was to hear his voice.

"Where have you been?  I tried to call.  Out partying without me, huh?" he teased, not sounding angry.  Sou wasn't a very overprotective boyfriend.  Well, she supposed he was, but he let her have her freedom without questions.

Kaoru smiled.  "You wouldn't believe what's happened to me."

"Are you going to tell me?  I'm ready for a story.  My family's all asleep, but just in case they wake up I'm walking outside right now."

"Alright, I will.  I'm not crazy though, Sou, remember that."

"Aw come one, Kao.  We're all a little crazy.  What time is it where you are?"

"Five in the afternoon."

"What are you doing out west?  Did your parents come back and take you on a trip or something?"

Sou was very quick at mental math, which was part of the reason why his minor was mathematical sciences.  "Iie.  I hope you're sitting down, because I'm going to summarize everything that's happened in the past few nights for you."  With some minor alterations, she added to herself.

_You won't believe what happened to me tonight._

_Try me._

_Well I was taking that Italian class I'm doing because of the hot girl who's into vampires, and it actually clicked._

_What clicked?_

_I know Italian man!  I was sitting there watching one of those operas they put on to ingrain the language into your head and it must have been working because I suddenly knew what they were talking about!_

_I know the feeling, it's great when something just clicks, isn't it?_

_Yeah.  Now if only that chick would show some interest in me._

_Dream on._

A half hour later she was lying sprawled in the couch upside down, listening to Sou's reaction.

"At first I thought you were crazy, I have to admit that, but I know you'd never lie to me.  I wish I could fly out there now and help you, Kaoru.  I will find a way if you want me to," Sou's voice came earnestly over the phone.

"No, I'm okay."  That would only complicate things.  She felt guilty enough not telling Sou all the details of her and Ken's relationship.

"Are you sure?  Ken sounds like he can handle anything that comes his way, but I'll always be there for you, Kaoru, you know that, right?  I love you."

Kaoru smiled.  "I know you will.  I love you too, Soujiro."

"Ick.  It sounds so formal when you use my full name."

"I like your full name, but I love you, Sou," Kaoru teased, putting better emphasis on the 'Sou'.

His laughter flowed out through the phone to Kaoru's ear until she was laughing with him.  He always made her feel so good inside.

"What time is sunset?  I want to talk to Ken."

"Not for three and a half hours, then who knows what he'll want to do?  I doubt there'll be time to talk on the phone though."

"That's fine.  Another time.  I am really worried about you though, Kao.  Are you going to tell your parents?"

"No way.  I'll be back long before they are.  I want them to have a nice relaxing vacation.  It's not like they'd believe me anyway."

"Okay.  But you have to promise to call me everyday at this time or I swear I'm hopping on the plane and coming to find you somehow."

"I promise, Sou," Kaoru said gravely.  It was nice to have him to confide in.  She doubted she could've lived with keeping the whole thing from him anyway.  The guilt had been weighing on her mind.

Sou laughed in the background.  "Oh shoot, Kao, my cousins found me.  I gotta go.  Please take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will, Sou.  Love you."

"Love you."

They hung up at the same time, as had been agreed when they'd first started going out seriously over a year ago.  Kaoru sighed, Sou made her feel warm and content.  Ken made her feel worried and restless and half sad all the time because nothing that happened between them could ever last.  But Ken also made her feel half elated, like she was on a constant high every second she was around him.  There was passion there, even if it was one sided.  

Ken was so different when Dawn was approaching!  If only the change was more subtle.  If only he showed a hint of how he was at those times during the beginning and ending of the night.  Then she would know for sure if she needed to consider Ken as a focal point in her life beyond the next week.  Kaoru sighed.  She couldn't help but give him one more chance, and one more, and one more.  One second she loved him, the next she couldn't stand to be around him, the next second she was back to loving him.  What a vicious, cycle.  She decided to take her mind off Ken and head out to try and find a corner store or something.  The landlord could point her in the right direction.  She'd leave Ken a note and make it a point to not be here when he woke up.  His reaction would be fun.  Maybe that was a little wicked of her, but he deserved everything and anything she could dish out.

_Hey, do you know how many weeks it took me to work up the nerve to just start a conversation with that girl?  And you get her in one night?_

_You should've been more bold.  It's not like you to wait around, especially when it comes to contacts._

_Okay, I didn't really care about her._

_I knew it, she was just an excuse to go to Italian classes!_

_So?__  Hey, now that I know the language, let's head there next._

_Italy__'s so Catholic and superstitious though.  You know we're more at risk there, especially since there are some powerful vampires hanging around too._

_Aw come on, we've been stuck in __America__ long enough.  It's time for a little action.  Maybe a chase or we could stalk a vampire hunter or something._

_I am not stalking a vampire hunter.  Do you know how dumb that is?_

_Let's make a bet.  If I win, we go to __Italy__ and you stalk whatever hunter I choose.  If you lose, we go to __Italy__._

_I'm not dumb, Sano, you win both times._

_Fine.__  If I lose we go wherever you want.  Deal?_

_Deal.___

This time it felt like he was choking.  Kaoru was standing in front of him, angry.  She was shaking her head, about to leave him, unless he told her once and for all that he loved her, but he couldn't because he was being choked from behind.  Kaoru didn't seem to notice anything amiss.  They were in the restaurant where she worked and she was once again wearing her uniform.  Jineh smirked behind her, giving whoever was choking Ken a thumbs up.  Ken was so weak that he couldn't even move his arms.  His legs no longer held him up.  He was now in a bear hug, the strong arms still wrapped around his neck.  Then it was all over.  The chokehold evaporated slowly with Kaoru and Jineh into thin air and Ken could breathe again.  He woke up panting.

Kaoru was not there.  It didn't even feel like she was in the apartment.  Panic rose in his throat, choking him as effectively as the dream hands.  He told himself to be calm, his senses were always fogged when he first awakened from sleep.  But the dread settled into his bones and he knew she was not there.  He forced himself to breathe again.  Panicking would not help him figure out the situation.  She'd probably just gone out to get some food and left him a note or something.  Did the people in her generation still leave notes?  He dragged himself out of bed and went on a search of the dark apartment.  She'd left the light on in the foyer and that was where he saw the paper, lying on the table next to the door.  Just an ordinary eight and a half by eleven sheet of lined paper.  He froze, then made himself walk over, reach out, and pick it up.

_Ken,_

_            If you're reading this I guess I didn't get back before dark.  I was bored and hungry, so I decided to go out and explore the town.  I have a little money.  I'll be back soon.  The truth is, I purposely wanted to be out when you woke up.  Don't worry about me.  I'm wearing the earrings and I have my judo and self defense classes.  If you come looking for me, I'll never forgive you.  Your stuff is in the two black trunks in case you forgot.  See you,_

_Kaoru_

Ken didn't know what he'd been expecting, just not this.  Her tone had been perfectly normal, none of the angriness was evidenced as it had been last night.  Well he knew what he had expected.  He'd expected a farewell, I went back home, type of note.  He wondered what she'd meant when she said she purposely didn't want to be around when he woke up.  Probably some kind of test.  Human women were always putting men through tests, messing with their minds just for the fun of it.  Even female vampires did occasionally.  Too bad Kaoru could mess with his mind all she wanted.  He decided to take a shower and change into whatever clothes Kamatari had packed for him.  No doubt she'd look more favorably on him if he'd done as she'd hinted by the time he got back.  Besides, the shower helped him focus and he would be able to sense her energy if he was focused, pinpointing the moment of her return.

**A/N – I hoped you liked this chapter.  I guess things will start picking up action wise next chapter then.  And don't worry, Kenshin and Kaoru are about to really talk things out.  Fight fight fight!  I can't tell you what will be said cause I haven't written it yet, but it will be good.  And what does Soujiro have to do with all this?  Hmmm.  All I can say is review so I write faster, lol.  Just kidding.  You don't have to if you don't want to, but it would make me happy.  Love you all,**

**Aryanne**


	7. Battousai

**A/N – Here goes guys.  Sorry I haven't updated.  Midterms you know.  College sucks in that way.  Well thanks to the reviewers from the last chapters.  I hope you enjoy this one as much.**

**JML, Hitokiri miao-miao, lilk0k0, Ginny-cry, The Girl Who Cried Oro, Diane Long, Iram, moonmusic, fanfiction wanderer, Poppy2, Neko Oni-chan, Silver Warrior, Dove of Night, aglaia102, Videl621, Angel's Ghost, Koishii Sweet, Setine, kyanti, Michirure, ^^, bitchy brunette, Black Chiney, Saiya Winters**

**Disclaimer – I don't own RK or anything else.**

**Silver Cross**

**Chapter 7 – Battousai**

_Grocery shopping sucks.  Do we need peanut butter?_

_No.  We've got a half a jar left.  Aren't you looking at the list?_

_Oh yeah.  I don't know why you always cook to impress your contacts.  They'd be just as happy cooking for you._

_It makes them feel good and keeps them my contact longer.  You know the troubles of keeping a contact once they're exposed to the vampire world._

_Yeah.  I still can't believe Mae Li dumped me._

_If you'd bought her something or shown a little appreciation for her, I'm sure she would've at least told you ahead of time._

_So you're saying it was my fault?_

_I'm just saying you should think about changing your strategy when it comes to human women._

_Maybe you've got something there, Ken.  Hey, do we need any chicken soup?_

_My as well pick up a couple cans, in case a contact gets sick or something.  They like that._

_I like the way you think._

Kaoru hummed an aimless tune she'd made up walking downtown that afternoon as the elevator doors opened onto the sixth floor.  She stepped into the hallway, switching the two grocery bags from her right hand to her left so she could fumble around for key in her purse.  The door to the apartment two doors down from her and Ken's opened and the landlord came out in a flurry of activity, bidding farewell to a woman inside.

"Mrs. Sato!  Let me help you with those bags," he exclaimed, rushing over and practically snatching them away from her, his presence filling the silent hallway with an air of importance and business.

"Thanks.  I appreciate it, but the apartment's only a few steps away," Kaoru protested.

"Nonsense.  It's a pleasure.  Did you enjoy your walk downtown?  I hope the taxi service I recommended was satisfactory?" he asked with a smile as they started walking towards her temporary apartment.

"Oh it was perfect.  I had a nice time," Kaoru said honestly, fingering her earring for a second in absent-minded recollection.  "I'm looking forward to exploring a little more with my husband though," Kaoru told him, smiling inwardly at how strange it felt to have a husband, even a fake one.

"I hope he's recovered from his jet lag then?"

"It doesn't matter if he has or hasn't.  I'm determined to have a good time," Kaoru joked lightly, her fingers finally coming across the apartment key as they reached the door.  As it turned out, she need not have looked.  Ken opened the door.

"Hey," he said softly.  "I was worried about you."

Kaoru was in shock.  He wasn't angry.  He didn't look guarded or worried.  He kissed her lips lightly and smiled before directing his attention to Mr. Rodriguez and giving him a formal smile.

"Let me get that for you.  Thanks a lot for helping out my wife."

The landlord gave the bags up to Ken as easily as he'd taken them from Kaoru.  "No problem.  It's nice to see new faces around here.  Hope you two have a nice time tonight.  Excuse me for rushing off, but I have to see the Janssens about their air-conditioning system down on the first floor.  Nice talking with you two."  He waved and hurried away.

Ken turned away from Kaoru and took the grocery bags to the kitchen, leaving her to shut the door and put down her purse on the front table.

"You got my note, right, Ken?" Kaoru called, wondering if he was angry.  He was so adept at putting on masks for people.  She knew the one for the landlord had been fake, even if she'd wished it was real.

"I got it," his voice came neutrally from the kitchen.

Kaoru could hear him systematically unpacking her purchases and putting them in cabinets and the refrigerator.  She walked into the kitchen doorway and stood, staring at his back as he put the last grocery, a box of cereal, in a cabinet, bunched up the plastic grocery bags, and threw them in the trash can.  "I hope you weren't worried." 

"I was.  Then I found your note."  He turned to face her, bangs shadowing his eyes.  "What did you think you were doing, just leaving like that?  This isn't the best neighborhood for a woman alone."

Kaoru was instantly angry.  He had no right to scold her with the way he treated her all the time.  So the kiss in front of the landlord had just been for show after all.  "Don't hide behind your hair, Ken.  If you have something to say to me, you better look me in the eye.  And don't try to preach to me on where I can and cannot go.  I'm my own person.  You have no authority over me," Kaoru managed to get out without raising her voice.

Ken raised his head and glared into her eyes.  "You're just a naive kid.  You don't know how easily life can take a turn for the worst.  I don't want you exploring on your own in a city you don't know again."

"What you want and what you'll get are two different things.  I'm not a kid.  I may not be nearly as old as you are, but at least I have the common courtesy to treat people as equals.  You look down on everyone you come across.  That's no way to live!"  Kaoru seethed.  "So don't tell me how to live my life when you don't know how to live yours."

"How I live is none of your business."

That hurt.  "It is as long as I have to live with you!  I can't stand your mood-swings, Ken.  Why can't you just say what you mean to me if no one else?!  And don't give me that crap about me making you weak.  You're the weak one for not facing up to your feelings!"  Kaoru wished she could hit him over the head with something hard.  Maybe that would knock some sense into him.  Why did Ken bring out her violent tendencies?

"So now you're trying to tell me what my feelings are and how to think and how to act?  I've gotten this far without you; I don't think I need your advice," Ken seethed.  She was really starting to tick him off.  No one had gotten him angry over such a trivial thing in a long time.  Not since Sano.

"You've gotten nowhere!  Your best friend is dead!  Your other friends constantly worry about you and treat you as a lost cause.  Your only reason for living is to kill someone you've been after for eleven years.  Don't tell me it really takes that long to find the dark one!  Don't lie to me again!"

"Again?  Why are you twisting this around as if I'm the one to blame?  Dammit, you're the one who was wrong!"

"I know I was wrong!" Kaoru fairly screamed at him.  "I only did it to make you see!"

"Make me see what?  Why'd you leave if you knew it was wrong?!"  Ken was angry now too, starting to lose his cool.

"I came back!  And if you don't know why, then you really are an idiot!  Why aren't you admitting it to yourself?!"

"Admitting what?  You're not making any sense!"

"I can't tell you then," Kaoru replied, suddenly listless.

Ken walked over to the doorway in which Kaoru still stood and stepped close to her.  "Why can't you just tell me?"  His voice now sounded angry and boyish and almost pleading.  "Why can't you make just this one thing simple?!"

"Because life isn't simple!  You're the one who's making it hard anyway.  It's your stubbornness!" Kaoru said in clipped tones, looking up into his eyes, angry once again.  "You won't admit it.  Give me some money so I can buy a plane ticket and go home.  You'll never find the dark one like this."

Ken bowed his head low.  "If that's what you want."  His voice was sharper than the edge of a sword.

"See!  You're giving up too easily!" Kaoru practically screamed at him.  "You know that's not what I want!  Why aren't you trying to stop me?  You're so manipulative!  I know you wouldn't let me leave right now.  If you can't face me without all these illusions, you'll never face the dark one.  And I hate it when you won't look at me!  Stop hiding from the rest of us!"

"I don't understand you!  You've only known me for a few nights.  Why are you trying to dictate me life?!" he asked looking up, angry again.

"It'll be a week tomorrow."  Kaoru spat out, turning on her heel and marching out of the kitchen.

"Fuck.  What did I say?" Ken swore himself under his breath, wishing he could slam his fist down on the counter, but that would only prompt questions from the landlord, if no one in the neighboring apartments hadn't already heard them arguing.  He closed his eyes to sense the blood.  None.  The humans weren't home then.  Just Kaoru sitting in a ball on the couch.  Just Kaoru.  Nothing was just Kaoru.  How had she gotten him so angry?  He'd been determined not to yell at her, to deal with it maturely, to tell her flat out that she shouldn't have gone off and not been back before dark.  She'd nod and that would be that.  That plan hadn't gone well at all.  He still needed her to defeat the dark one.  And of course, simply because . . . well he needed her around, at least for the time being.  He'd have to walk into the living room and just wing it.  Somehow he'd appease her anger.

Ken didn't get it.  Kaoru wondered if he would ever understand that he needed people, he needed relationships to be happy.  She supposed he thought he'd be happy once the dark one was dead.  Revenge wasn't everything, it practically wasn't even anything.  He was so insensitive sometimes!  Well, a lot of the time.  Maybe his life hadn't changed much since he'd met her, but hers sure had.  She'd never be the same since that moment she had seen him sitting alone at a table in the Akabeko.  She'd kind of hoped he'd been counting the days since he'd met her too.  Her anger dissipated.  She wondered if Ken would ever speak to her again without remembering how angry he'd been.  What a depressing thought.  Well she was depressed, and there was nothing she could do about it except apologize to Ken and hoped he forgave her, or at least could live with the whole thing.  She'd wanted him to admit that he needed her around, oh how she wanted him to say that, but he hadn't.  That was something she'd have to live with.  She realized to her dismay that she was satisfied just as long as she got to be around him and he was happy.  That meant she'd never be satisfied.  It was so hard to make him happy.  She hadn't heard a true laugh out of him yet, just sarcasm and a few smirks and maybe a couple little chuckles in there.  She felt her mouth tremble and fought the urge to cry.  She was NOT going to cry over Ken.

Ken took a deep breath, watching her try to control her emotions.  He had made her cry.  He felt horrible.  "Kaoru."

Her head snapped up.  She realized she'd never heard him say her name before.  A tear trickled out of her right eye.  She turned her face away so he wouldn't see it, wiping the tear away with her sleeve.  "Yes?" she asked, trying to compose herself, but her voice gave her away.

If another man had done this to her, he would've gone out and kicked his ass.  But he was the bad guy.  He was the one who had hurt her.  "Can I sit down?"

She turned to him and favored him with a half-hearted smile.  "It's your apartment."

"Would you be okay with it if I did?" he asked carefully.

Not trusting her voice, she simply nodded and watched as he came and sat down next to her.  Watching him, she felt her eyes tear up again and overflow.  Through the blur she saw Ken reach towards her and then she felt his arms as he pulled her towards him.  She gripped his shirt with both hands and sobbed into his chest.

Ken watched her, fascinated, feeling the pull of her small hands as she held his shirt and sobbed.  He rubbed her back slowly, up and down, back and forth, rhythmically.  His chest was gradually getting damp.  Her whole frame heaved as she cried.  She seemed to be sobbing away all her troubles.  He didn't think he had cried like that since he'd first become a vampire.  He wished she would stop, but he didn't think she could have if her life had depended on it.  Her sobs gradually slowed until she was simply leaning against him, eyes closed, totally drained, taking slow deep breaths.  He kept rubbing her back, not sure what else to do.  After a while she sighed and snuggled into him.

"Are you okay?" Ken asked, feeling like that was the dumbest question in the whole world to ask at that moment.

"Mmmhmm," Kaoru replied.

Ken wondered how she went from sobbing her heart out to practically purring.  As long as she wasn't going to break down again, that was fine with him.

"Could you hand me the tissue box?" she asked, her face still hidden from his view.

He stopped rubbing her back and leaned forward, his other hand supporting her so that she would stay in the same position in his arms.  He grabbed the tissues from the little table beside the couch and leaned back in the more comfortable position they'd been in before, handing her the box of tissues.  She finally pushed away from him and blew her nose loudly a few times on various tissues, finishing with drying her eyes on yet another tissue.  He watched her the whole time.  She put the box of tissues back on the end table.  He reached out and pulled her back to him.

"I'm sorry, Ken," Kaoru apologized.

He didn't know if she was apologizing for the fight or the crying.  "Don't be.  I overreacted," he found himself admitting.  "And I knew it was going to be a week tomorrow.  I was just angry, if that's why you were crying."

Kaoru sighed.  "That's not really why.  It was a lot of things.  I guess I just couldn't take it anymore.  Thanks for being there for me."

Ken was surprised but pleased that she was thanking him.  And he was relieved that it wasn't what he'd said that had made her cry.  Maybe it wasn't his fault at all then.  But he knew he had only himself to blame, no matter what the cause.  If it hadn't been for him, she would be back in Pennsylvania, safe.

"You're beautiful," he said, studying her glossy hair, the feel of her weight pleasingly resting on him.  He traced a finger down her face, admiring the feel of her skin on his hand.  He stopped when he saw the earrings.

She looked up at him and blushed.  "No I'm not.  I look horrible from crying so much," she pushed away from him.  "I'm going to go wash my face in the bathroom."

He let her walk away, studying the planes and curves of her body as she moved.  He'd never known it was this fascinating to simply watch every aspect of a person.  He watched the shut bathroom door, waiting for her to return.

Kaoru stared into the mirror and sighed.  She turned the water on so Ken couldn't hear her every movement.  How could it be that she'd never heard him say her name before?  She racked her brain.  There must have been some time when he'd called her by name.  But no, he'd simply chosen to speak to her directly.  She wondered why he'd changed now, not that she was complaining.  Her name spoken by his voice sounded right.  

How embarrassing it had been to just break down in front of him like that, though.  Thankfully, that had been one of the few times Ken had understood her and he hadn't ruined the moment with words.  The washcloth caught on her earrings.  She sighed and took them off.  Maybe he was coming to love her then?  If he was, what was she going to do about Sou?  Ah well.  It was best not to dwell on it.  But there was no having both.  This was not going to turn out like Casablanca either, she vowed, drying her face with a towel and heading back into the living room.  Ken was still there, watching her as she approached.  It was a little unnerving.  She wondered what he wanted to talk about.

"I have to go and feed.  Will you be okay here for an hour?"

That answered the question then.  She stopped at the edge of the couch and stood, looking down at him.

"Sure.  I'll just have some of the food I bought."

He stood.  "Don't eat too much.  I'm taking you out, remember?"

She smiled.  "Yeah.  I remember."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked, standing.

"No one knows we're here.  I'll be fine until you get back."  She glanced guiltily at his shirt.  "Sorry I got you all wet."

He smiled, a real smile, she was pleased to note, and pulled her close to him.

"That's what husbands are for," he teased lightly, pleased when she laughed and moved into him.  He discovered that he liked the sound of her laughter.  It was the best thing he'd ever heard.  He gently slid his hand up the back of her shirt, trying to memorize the feeling of her skin, the smoothness of her back, the small variations in the skin that covered her spinal cord.  He closed his eyes and kissed her mouth until she was breathless, then drew his lips down her face to her neck and to the first button of her shirt, sliding his hand from her back to her bottom, pressing her pelvis against his, so that she could feel how much he wanted her.

"Ken . . ." she started, alarmed at where he wanted this to go, where she wanted this to go, knowing she couldn't let it get that far.  She could feel her heart beating wildly out of skew from its normal pace.  If he didn't listen to her, she didn't think she could stop herself for much longer from giving in to her body.  But she wanted control over herself, and she wanted to sort her mind out and be completely sure that she was in love with Ken and only Ken before she gave her body to him.

"What?" he asked, intonation soft.

"I can't, Ken.  We're not really married.  It's against what I've believed all my life.  Besides, I'd feel like a slut," she confessed.  "I haven't known you for that long-"

"You don't have to explain.  I understand," Ken cut her off.

His expression was neutral.  Kaoru wondered if he really did understand.  At the least, he was hiding his true reaction from her.  "Ken, I know you don't understand.  Don't lie to me, okay?"

"I'm not lying to you."

"I just want to know what you feel.  I want you to show me your feelings.  I need to understand you better, Ken.  I feel like I don't know you at all yet," Kaoru said slowly.  She didn't think she'd done a very good job of getting her point across to Ken.  She wanted to much more from him than she could express in words.  Everything.  All of him.  She wanted to know every detail of his life, the highs, the lows, his family.  What had his mother been like?  Why couldn't he just tell her?  Show her how it was to be him?

So she wanted to know him more?  Did she really want him to tell her that he was pissed, but not at her, at himself because he was finding it harder and harder to visualize the day when he would have to give her up?  Even the way he worded it annoyed him - the day he would have to give her up, instead of the day he gave her up.  He supposed her stopping whatever would have happened was right in any case.  He needed to feed.  It would be harder to hold himself back when he was weaker than normal.  He had a feeling that he would need as much energy as he could get tonight.  LA was a dangerous place, especially since he was expecting contact from the local vampire population in the near future.  They would feel his presence and demand an explanation to why he'd come back to LA after his . . . hurried leave-taking a decade ago.  As long as they didn't put Kaoru in any danger, he could deal with their presence, not that he held the illusion that he could somehow escape their notice.  Meanwhile, Kaoru was searching his eyes and waiting for his response.  If she wanted him to let down his guard around her, then so be it, but it wouldn't be easy to let his emotions show regularly after keeping them in check for so many years, so many decades of time.

"Do you understand, Ken?" she was asking him again.  "Why I don't want to do this yet?"

He didn't think she realized she'd said 'yet', or he knew she would have blushed and her heart rate would have increased and she wouldn't still be meeting his eyes.  Her eyes wouldn't hold that concerned look.  He realized that he wanted a true relationship with her and that he wanted her to be able to talk about anything and everything with him.  Until then, he decided to hold himself back, and just focus on know her mind before she revealed her body to him.

He gave her a smile, as soft and reassuring as he could manage, and loosened his hold on her to a gentle hug.  "I do.  It's going to take a while," he stated flatly.  She my as well know that the transition would be slow.

She seemed to relax.  Her heart beat was gradually slowing from its rapid pace.  "I guess I can live with that."

She smiled to show she was joking.  Ken decided it was nice to have someone being considerate of his feelings.  He supposed Misao and Aoshi were occasionally, but his relationship with Misao was more showing affection through insults, and Aoshi was so into Zen that it kind of freaked him out.  He supposed they cared in their own weird ways, but he wasn't very well going to move in with them.  He had a hard time getting along with certain members of Aoshi's Oniwaban group.

He released her and decided it would be best if he left that second.  He checked his pockets.  Car keys were there.  "I'll go feed now.  Don't open the door for anyone.  When I come back I'll knock four times before I open the door, just so you know it's me.  Don't expect me for an hour minimum," he instructed, walking towards the door.  He could feel her presence.  She was following him.

"Call me when you're on your way back, okay?  It'll make me feel better," Kaoru requested, realizing that it would be spooky to be alone in a strange apartment in a strange city at night without Ken.  She'd have to keep the TV on for background noise.  Ken looked confused at her request for a moment, then the realization that she wanted contact with him before then seemed to dawn on him.  He turned to her and nodded.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" 

She looked a little flustered.  "Sure I will.  I just want you to call that's all," she finished a little defensively.  Did Ken have to make such a big deal over her asking for him to call?  It's not like it was that big a deal or anything.

Ken shrugged and turned away, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.  Women.  She'd probably be over what ever had ticked her off by the time he got back anyway.  For now the promise of blood was calling him and he wasn't one to ignore it.  The hunger was starting to build up in him, fed by his anticipation.  He shut the door, told himself she would be fine, and pushed her out of his mind.  It was time to hunt.

Kaoru was sad that she'd gotten defensive and they hadn't parted all that amicably.  The wild thought entered her mind that she'd never see him again and the last words she'd said to him weren't even goodbye.  She pushed the fear out of her head.  Telling her self that Ken could certainly take care of himself and he would be just fine.  She was in more danger than him.  It wasn't like there was some vampire that could hurt him.  She was pretty confident that Ken could take care of himself.  True, she hadn't seen him display any real fighting abilities, but it was all in the way he carried himself.  Even though he was small compared to other men he radiated a presence that was larger than the average person's.  He was not someone to mess with.  She wondered why she did.

_What do you think of this group, Ken?_

_The Beatles?___

_Yeah. _

_They're okay for British people._

_What's that supposed to mean?  I happen to think they're cool and I'm not British._

_You only like them because all the American girls are crazy about them._

_Well maybe by listening to their music, some of that will rub off on me and I won't have to even try to get girls._

_Keep dreaming, Sano._

          "You want to visit your uncle with me?" his grandmother asked looking up at him from the driver's seat of the small Toyota, a little incredulous.  No one in the family usually went with her on her weekly visits unless she badgered them for weeks previous to the occasion.

          Sou nodded.  "Yes please, Sobo."

          "You're not into anything illegal that you need him to bail you out for, are you?" she asked, giving him a penetrating stare.

          Sou didn't know what to think.  His own sobo thought he might be dabbling in illegal activities.  He was a little hurt that she had deemed that a real possibility.  It must have shown on his face, because she rolled her eyes and smiled. 

          "Don't be so serious, Soujiro.  I know my little baby grandson wouldn't get himself involved with the wrong circles."

          Then, to Sou's confusion, she opened the car door and stepped out, staring up at him expectantly.  "Be a man and open the car door for me, you idiot grandson.  Didn't your father teach you any manners?" she grumbled, walking around to the passenger side of the car.

          Sou blushed and sighed, hurrying after his grandmother.  He'd forgotten how demanding she was.  Hopefully she wouldn't hang around during the whole conversation with his uncle.  He had some private matters to talk about and he didn't want his sobo getting the wrong picture of Kaoru.

          _So what are you getting me for Christmas?_

_            Don't tell me we're doing that pagan tradition again._

_            We are.  It's not a pagan tradition.  It's called Christianity.  You know there's something behind that.  Why else would the cross burn?_

_            So they've got strong gods.  That doesn't mean we have to celebrate the birth of the founder of a religion that shuns us._

_            Let's not go into this again, Ken.  I don't understand how you can go on without hope.  Sometimes I think you'd just let the hunters find you if it wasn't for your sense of self preservation._

          He hadn't realized how weak he'd been until he felt fresh hot blood flowing through his body once again.  He let a few more drops trickle down his throat before stepping back from the now woozy cow and licking his lips.  He'd been sloppy in a bout of sudden hunger upon seeing a viable source of blood at last.  He gazed around at the night with his elevated senses, spotting a few deer and the average amount of small night animals.  He wondered how he had ever lived with his limited human senses before becoming a vampire.  Still, there were pluses to being human.  Life for one thing.  He knew that one day he would have to give up on this constant cycle of death, of feeding off of life, unable to live, but unable to die if he chose to quit leeching from life.  Just as he had given up trying to find a cure, to change himself back to being human, after his first few decades of being one of the undead.

          But now the blood had rejuvenated him and he was feeling ready for anything.  His senses were tingling, his mind was awake and free of stress, he simply knew there would be some interesting developments in the night to come.  And then he felt the faint pull of blood energy calling him, connecting him through a line as thin as a spider's trailing web.  Turning away from the cow, he walked in the direction of the pull at a rapid pace, it grew little by little, until it was the equivalent of a shoe lace, binding him to its source.  And then he knew.  It was Kaoru.  Halting, he reflected.  He had not known that his connections with her had run so deep, deep enough that he could feel her from miles away.  And then he remembered that she'd wanted him to call her and began walking again, pulling out his cell phone and swallowing the last taste of blood, savoring the twang before it faded away.

          _How were you changed?_

_            None of your business, Ken.  Just recuperate so we can go hunting together soon.  We'll make a great team._

_            I think you owe me an explanation.  I didn't ask for this existence you bitch._

_            Well you didn't refuse it.  You had your chance to die, just like the rest of the humans do.  But you were afraid and backed out.  Don't try to blame it all on me.  And watch who you call a bitch.  I could make you wish you were dead, you're so weak._

_            My chance to die?  So that's what it was.  I've failed my family's honor-_

_            Don't go blaming me for taking away your honor.  If you were as holy as you thought you were, you wouldn't have let me seduce you._

_            Did you mean to turn me this whole time then?_

_. . . No.  I'm not that cruel._

"My sister's youngest brat.  I haven't seen you in a long time.  How's life in the states treating you?"

"Very well, Oji-san.  Domo.  Ogenki desu ka?"

"Hai.  Let's cut the crap while the old lady's over there chatting.  What kind of trouble are you in, kid?"

"Is it that obvious, Uncle Shishio?" the kid asked, alarmed.

"Nah.  I know you, that's all."

Sou smiled over at his uncle and sat down across from him at the table.  "It's not me.  It's my girlfriend back in the states.  I've always known you weren't crazy, Oji, and I think she can prove it."

"What?  She stumbled across a vampire?"  Sou's uncle asked, lowering his voice, half incredulous.

Sou glanced around the recreation center of the mental hospital to make sure no one was in close enough proximity to hear their conversation.  "That's what she claims.  She called me and told me this morning.  At first I didn't want to believe her, but she reported some pretty convincing things.  And then there's the fact that she's in LA right now instead of Pennsylvania.  Do you think I should go after her, Oji?"

Sou's uncle smiled, phone numbers and addresses of old contacts running through his head.  "Tell me the whole story, first, Soujiro."

_Was that guy just coming on to me?_

_I think he was._

_Doesn't he know what I could do to him if I was in the mood?  He better be more careful of who he messes with next time._

_So why didn't you punch him or something?_

_Hit him in front of all these hot potential female contacts?   That would be crazy.   I don't want them to think I might have violent tendencies._

_Might?  I bet you can't keep your temper in check for ten minutes in a gay bar._

_Why would I be in a gay bar?_

_You're just chicken.  That guy liked you, I bet someone would hit on you and you wouldn't be able to take it._

_            Just how much are you betting here, Ken?_

_            Remember that new contact, Ginger?  Well I'll hand her over to you if you can last for ten minutes after a guy starts hitting on you._

_            Deal._

_            Deal.  You're going down, Sano._

          So Ken had actually called her like she'd asked and he was due back any minute.  He'd sounded okay on the phone, actually normal.  Like a husband calling his wife on the way back from work or something.  She supposed that was just wishful thinking.  Not that she wanted to marry Ken or anything, just that it would be nice to have a house and a family someday.  She found she could look forward to that, but not for a few years.  In any case, Ken had been very mysterious, telling her to get ready to go out as soon as he arrived home, and that things were going to pick up.  She thought it had all been exciting so far, but come to think of it, there hadn't been any threatening vampires after them or people shooting at them for a couple nights.  Days, Kaoru corrected herself, days.  She was not going to start thinking like a vampire.  She was not going to start, because once it started it would be even harder to go back to Pennsylvania and live out her life, harder to go back to college and finish up her final semester.  But she would do it.  She swore she would do it.  

Kaoru sighed, knowing she was blowing things way out of proportion.  It wasn't like Ken was going to whisk her off in a whirlwind of parties and clubs and wealth to hide away from the rest of the world.  He was only going to stop the dark one from fulfilling whatever evil purpose it had in mind and then . . . And then, well she didn't know what he had in mind.  She hoped he wasn't going to give up on life, let the hunters catch up to him.  Sometimes it seemed as if Ken had no hope left, as if this was the only thing he lived for.  And once it was over. . . Kaoru knew it would break her if Ken were to die.  She felt like crying sitting there curled up on the couch where Ken had held her earlier, reading a novel left by the last tenants of the apartment.  Well, trying to read in any case.  She didn't think her irrational fear that Ken wouldn't return would leave until she heard him knock four times like he'd promised and then turn the key in the door.

And then she heard light footsteps sound in the hallway and held her breath, hoping they wouldn't pass her door.  They stopped and she heard the owner of the feet that were casting a shadow underneath the door knock four times.  "Ken," she couldn't help whispering, letting her breath out in a sigh.

He slid the key into the lock and opened the door, bringing energy and life into the room.  She could tell the feeding must have gone well.

"Hi, Ken," she said, bending the corner on the book page to mark her place and shutting it, about to get up and greet him.

"Don't get up," he instructed her, shutting the door and walking over to sit with her.  No, he didn't so much walk as float, almost ethereally.  He was the only man she could truly describe as striking.  

He sat down next to her and drew her towards him, planting a gentle kiss on her lips.  "Are you ready to go?" he asked, leaning back to look into her eyes.

"Yes.  Is this outfit alright for wherever we're going?" Kaoru asked, pulling back to let him get the big picture of her black calf-length skirt, ¾ length electric blue shirt, and black flip flops.

"It's perfect," he commented, looking her over a couple times before returning his gaze back to her face.  "I'll just go change my shirt and then we'll leave."

Kaoru watched as Ken got up and disappeared into the bedroom.  His greeting had been warm.  She wondered if vampires got on a blood high after they had fed.  She thought that was what she would choose to call his behavior.  He simply radiated energy, the picture of super-alertness.  And he claimed she had high energy that attracted vampires.  He sold himself short.

She was still in deep thought when Ken came back out of the bedroom with a casual dress shirt on, checking his pockets to be sure he hadn't forgotten anything.  "You ready?" he asked, stopping and gazing down at her.

Blushing, Kaoru jumped up, grabbing her purse from the end table on the way and following him to the door, which, she was very surprised to see, Ken opened and waited for her to step through first.  She turned around and smiled back at him, watching as he shut and locked the door behind them.  "Where did the sudden manners come from?"

"I'm hurt," he said, linking his arm to hers and actually sounding sad.  "You don't think I'm that bad, do you?"  

It was really too bad his smirk gave him away, or Kaoru might actually have apologized.  "Yes, I do," she replied, elbowing him gently.

He pretended she'd actually hurt him, leaning away, but pulling her with him because their arms were still linked.  "That hurts, Kaoru.  That really hurts."  Ken was having a fun time teasing her.  He watched a slight flush come to her cheeks as she balanced from him pulling her to the side.

She loved how he said her name, realizing he hadn't said it before they'd come to LA, ever.  A warm feeling spread through her at the two syllables flowing from his lips.  She didn't think he knew how much of an effect he had on her.  It would be scary if he did, she supposed, him knowing how much control he had and how much she relied on him to be happy lately.  Maybe she was just insecure.  It had taken her forever to get to the point where she could just open up to Sou.  She envied the easy manner in which he could naturally trust people with his feelings.  She had never been like that except with her family, Sou, and now maybe Ken.  She could sense a deep relationship forming, deeper than the one she shared with her family or Sou.  She wondered if Ken would learn to loosen up and share his feelings with her, he'd said he would try.  She just hoped he would succeed.

So for now Kaoru simply elbowed him again and called him a liar, flouncing away, and pressing the down button at the elevator.  She smiled when he came up behind her, slid his arms around her waist, and leaned his chin on the top of her head.

"You look really pretty tonight.  I promise you'll have a good time at this restaurant, and then we'll do whatever you want later.  Okay?"  Ken was in an exceptional mood.  For the first time since he had become a vampire, he felt truly rejuvenated, almost alive.  He knew it wasn't because of the blood so much as it was being around Kaoru when he had just fed.  He hoped no vampires were looking for him because it was exceptionally hard to hide his blood-ki signature and he was afraid he'd be a little sloppy, enabling a keen vampire to trace his whereabouts.  No matter.  If one was to find him, it could come.  He was ready.  Meanwhile, he smiled to himself and breathed in Kaoru's smell underneath the faint scent of jasmine perfume she wore.  He knew no other woman could ever be as breathtaking as the one he held in his arms.

_            It's too early to wake up._

_            I thought you hated the fact that we have to sleep against our will.  Why are you sleeping now?_

_            Because it's not against my will now, man.  Five more minutes._

_            Whatever you say, Sano._

          ". . . to call tomorrow morning."

          "Tomorrow morning. . . Well from the looks of it, I think she's stumbled across a guy with the potential to be a real vampire.  Understand that I wouldn't know for sure unless I saw him, kiddo," Sou's uncle said, leaning back in his chair and relaxing.  He closed his eyes for a minute, in deep thought.

          "But is she in any danger?" Sou asked, worried.  He willed his uncle to answer.  "Oji?"

          The man opened his eyes, staring at his nephew, silencing any protests Sou might have uttered.  Sou shivered inwardly.  Maybe his uncle was a little crazy, but he would have to take everything he said into consideration, for Kaoru.  Shishio seemed to have sensed the chill his gaze had washed over Sou, because he let a smirk play across his face.

          Sou flushed.

          "Wait for her to call you again.  I'll see what I can do before tomorrow morning and have some of my buddies drop off some stuff at your grandmother's house.  I'm going to have my people ask around and see if this 'Ken' vampire is known in any circles.  I'll send a message along with the package."  Shishio closed his eyes and breathed deep and regular.

          "Arigato, Oji," Sou breathed.

          "No problem, kiddo.  I'm thinking it's time I got out of this joint.  One way or another you're connection to this girl will help me.  Now shut up, your obasan is coming over."

          _I think I'm allergic to dust._

_            Why do you say that? . . . Ahh!  You sneezed all over my arm!_

_            Sorry, Ken.  But is there something wrong with me?  This never happened before._

_            Well we were never trekking around ancient temples before.  It must be something in the air._

_            Why aren't you sneezing then?_

_            Because you are weaker than me._

_            Hey-_

_            You sneezed on me again!_

_            That's what you get._

          Dinner had been wonderful.  Ken had continued to act like himself around her, and LA was beautiful at night.  He'd even kept true to his word and asked her what she wanted to do, so they'd walked over to Little Tokyo and Kaoru had seen the shrine and felt the need to pray, though she was not Buddhist.  It was a beautiful place, even Ken seemed to appreciate the majesty of the ornate artwork.  But then it had started to rain and Ken had dashed off into the night to buy an umbrella, saying he'd be back in a few minutes.  So Kaoru had decided she couldn't resist and kneeled in front of the altar, praying for guidance and safety for her family, her friends, and Ken.  Peace flowed through her as she recited the Lord's Prayer and then a few Psalms.  

            The vampire watched the Battousai exit the shrine, leaving the girl behind.  He must truly care for her if he hadn't probed for other vampires with his senses before leaving her.  She had him too distracted.  He hadn't thought any female could have such an effect on the Battousai.  His energy had called to the rest of the vampires in the city, so his leader had sent him to deliver a message to the Battousai.  No one entered LA without the permission and clearance of his leader.

          He waited a few minutes until he was sure the Battousai was far enough away to not be able to return quickly when he sensed the woman was in trouble.  Then he slipped inside.  She was kneeling, muttering prayers almost feverishly.  After listening to her speech with his elevated senses for a few seconds, he decided to let her finish before he relayed to her the message from his superiors.  She finished all too soon.  He wished he could listen to her voice longer, but he had to get to her before she stood.

          Kaoru felt a knife at her neck and froze instantly, not daring to speak, hardly daring to breathe.  She closed her eyes.

          "If you try to scream you won't get more than a breath out before I slit your throat," a male voice said in her ear.

          "Are you a vampire?" she asked, though even talking hurt because of the knife pressed against her throat.

          "No talking, but yes, I am."

          "Do you work for the dark one?"  Kaoru had to know.  If he did, then she was dead anyway.  She would risk the knife.

          He spat in disgust.  "No.  I have more honorable leaders.  Now shut up before I have to draw blood.  If you understand, nod."

          Kaoru swallowed nervously and nodded slightly, mindful of the blade that pressed against her throat.

          "The Battousai failed to alert us that he was arriving in LA.  As a result, my boss wishes to speak with him; three am at the corner of Jackson and Virginia.  He's to come alone.  If he's late you will die.  Don't move until he comes back."

          The blade disappeared from Kaoru's throat as if it had never been there at all.  She instantly brought her hand to her throat, sighing in relief when she felt no blood trickling down.  He hadn't hurt her.  Questions flew through her mind.  Battousai?  He had to mean Ken.  Was that his nickname?  Was Ken even his real name?  She didn't dare move for fear the nameless vampire would come back.  A few seconds later she heard the door to the shrine open and a voice yell her name, Ken's voice.  She opened her eyes and turned around to face him.  He was sopping wet.  As soon as he saw her he threw the umbrella down on the ground and ran to her, kneeling down and pulling her into his arms.

          "Are you okay?  Who was it?"

          Kaoru hugged him and buried her face in his shirt for the second time that evening.  "I'm fine.  He had a message for the Battousai.  Is that you, Ken?"

          She could feel Ken stiffen at the mention of the name, then pull away from her embrace.

          "I'll be back," he said, turning abruptly and getting up, running out of the church.

          Kaoru was now angry.  Who did he think he was, just up and running off without so much as an explanation when she could have been killed.  Shaking off the residues of fear from the knife experience, she stood up and ran down the isle after him, cursing her flip flops.  Halfway there she remembered she'd left her purse at the alter and ran back, grumbling.  Knowing Ken was too far away to catch now, even if she had been a vampire, she simply marched over to the entrance, picked up the umbrella that Ken had dropped, and went out into the steamy LA night.  She knew Ken could sense her.  He'd find her when he gave up the search.  She might as well be ready for him when he did.

          _Sano, what are you wearing?_

_            A suit._

_            Why?  You never wear suits.  Is it a woman?_

_            What can I say?  After all these years I'm still a sucker for a pretty face._

          He grabbed her arm roughly from behind as she stood in the rain, staring in the window of a toy shop.  A miniature train was making its way slowly around the shop on a track that hung suspended from the ceiling.

          "What do you think you're doing, Kaoru?  It took forever for me to find you in all these people."

          She loved the sound of her name on his tongue even if it was spoken in anger.  "You left, so I left.  I knew you'd find me," she forced herself to say coolly, staring at the train.  It had made its way halfway across the store and was circling back towards her.

          He forced her to turn around and face him.  He was drenched wet in the rain, hair dripping water into his eyes.  His eyes held anger, frustration, and . . . concern.  "You could've gotten hurt.  You're no match for any vampire.  They could find you as easily as I did."

          "Then don't leave me, Ken," Kaoru said, forcing her temper to stay in check.  Her reply seemed to hit him like a slap.  She decided to change the subject.  "I never even got to tell you the message."

          He frowned.  She could see him visibly shrug off any emotions her words had invoked.  Then he was back to the old Ken, cool and impersonal.  "Tell me now."

          "He wants you to meet him alone at three am on the corner of Jackson and Virginia.  He said something about you not notifying his boss that you were in the city.  He called you Battousai," Kaoru finished slowly, searching his eyes for an explanation, but he'd once again closed out the world, closed her out.  She decided to leave out the part about her dying if he was late for the appointment.  That would only anger him further.  He was probably angry she'd been so weak in any case.

          He had lowered his head, thinking, so she couldn't see his eyes.  She wondered what play of thoughts was winding through his mind.

          "What does that mean, Ken?  Battousai?"

          "It's an old nickname from the days when I worked for the dark one."

          Kaoru did not believe her ears at first.  Ken?  Work for the dark one?  But where was his tattoo?  Why had he been working for the dark one?  So here was yet another reason for him to hate the dark one.  If he'd been working for the vampire that killed Sano, his best friend, he couldn't possibly have known.  The dark one must have used him.  So they had a history.  Perhaps that was why Ken had not found the dark one until now.  Maybe he had been wrestling with his past and not able to face the person who had initiated is friend's death.  She knew he must feel guilty everyday, every moment he thought about Sano.

          Still, she was angry that he hadn't told her this.  "Do you have any other names I don't know about?  Is your real name even Ken?" she asked, her anger fueled by the hurt springing from the fact that he wouldn't look at her.

          "Kaoru, don't make this hard.  Please," he said softly, and suddenly Kaoru felt ashamed of herself.  Maybe he was trying to open up to her.  She reached out into the rain and encircled his wrist with her hand, pulling him under the umbrella and away from the rain.

          "I don't know how you feel, Ken, but I'll listen if you tell me."  She waited.  He didn't say anything.  She took a deep breath and continued.  "I don't know what to say, except I know you would never have harmed Sano intentionally, so you must not have known what the dark one was.  Knowing this doesn't change my opinion of you.  I wish you'd told me sooner."

          Ken finally looked out at her from under his bangs.  "Kenshin Himura." 

          Kaoru looked up at him in confusion.  "What?"

          "My full name is Kenshin Himura."

          "Kenshin Himura," Kaoru repeated, letting the syllables wash over her tongue.  "I love your name.  Kenshin Himura."  She surveyed him intently.  "You do look more like a Kenshin than a Ken.  It suits you."

          He grasped her hand that wasn't holding the umbrella over their heads as the rain pounded down around them.  "I don't know how anyone can be so understanding."

          "I'm not.  You must be my weakness, Kenshin Himura," Kaoru said wryly, wrinkling her nose at him, glad that the new Ken was back.  She smiled and kissed him lightly.  His lips were warm, though wet from the rain.  Well that was sexy.

          Ken smiled, marveling at her ability to make him feel better at the most basic level.  At this moment he didn't care that he was standing in full view of the public eye, both human and vampire, kissing a woman he was hundreds of years older than, who had him completely bowled over.  Well that was obvious.  He never went for public displays of affection except when it was manipulative to his plans, whatever they might be at the moment.  At _this_ moment he was all hers and to hell with the consequences.

          "I'm sorry, Kaoru."

          "Never mind about that.  I can never stay mad at you for long anyway."  She smiled, dismissing the topic.  "Now I would link my arm through yours, but you're all wet," she teased.

          "Hey, who got you that umbrella?" Ken asked, a wicked look coming to his eyes.

          "Ken," Kaoru said slowly, backing away until she bumped up against the display window.  She could feel the wet glass dampening the back of her skirt, so she took a step towards Ken, who was advancing.  Then it dawned on Kaoru what he meant to do.  "Ken!  No!" she shrieked in mock horror before trying to bolt down the street.

          She only got four steps before strong arms clothed by a wet shirt slid around her waist.  Startled, she dropped the umbrella on the sidewalk next to her just before Ken spun her around and pulled her tight to him.

          "Ken!  You're getting me all wet!" she fussed, trying to push him away as the rain water spotted her clothes and hair.

          But then he cupped her face in his hand and kissed her and she forgot all about the rain that poured down on them, filling the upturned umbrella.  And she threw her arms around his neck and knew, _knew_ that this was where she wanted to be.  There they stood, on a sidewalk in the middle of downtown LA, and the crowds parted for them in awe.

**A/N – Sorry about not updating for a month again.  Hope you liked this chapter and I'll be sure to update sooner!  For now, fire away with those reviews!**


	8. 3am Appointment

**A/N – Yes, finals are finally over and I am proud to say that I passed all my classes my first semester of freshman year at JHU.  Meanwhile, I've been non-stop writing to get this chapter out since I came back home for Christmas vacation.  Hope you all enjoy it.  Sorry for the delay.  As always, thanks to the wonderful reviewers.  With you all, I would be extremely lazy about posting.  You remind me how wonderful it is to write.  **

**Black Chiney, JML, Silver Warrior, Nigihayami Haruko, lilk0k0, Poppy2, ^^, Ginny-cry, Angie, kenshin obsessed, InsanexPsycho, missaw, hitomi, Koneko Battousai, Rinfirithiel, The Girl Who Cried Oro, EEevee, pyro girl, Luli451, MiT, Iram, Naiya-chan, random fan, DarkMave, Riokai Guardian of the Night, Ymir-chan, Mishorou Mie, Saiya Winters, Videl621, Ash, ixchen**

**Disclaimer – I've lost the will to make these witty and funny, so I'll just say, it's Christmas time, don't sue me.  And yeah, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**Silver Cross**

**Chapter 8 – 3am Appointment**

_Megumi, has Sano always been like this?_

_            Like what?_

_            Yes, I'm afraid he has, Sir Ken._

_            Like what, Fox?_

_            Ohohohoho._

_            If you don't know by now, we're certainly not going to tell you, Sano._

_            Rrrrrr.  Ken!_

          "It's good that you have faith in your uncle, Soujiro."

          Sou glanced over at his obasan.  She was staring straight ahead out the window with a faraway expression on her face.  He wondered why she kept on loving his uncle Shishio.  Sure Sou loved his uncle, but he was also scared of the man.  His voice and manner were intimidating, and the manner in which he acted breathed class and power.  The class, he knew, came from his grandmother.  At times she could be the most stuck-up bitch that ever lived.  God, how he loved her.  But who knew where that power in his uncle had come from?  Shishio obviously still had connections to whatever world had put him in the mental hospital.  His grandmother wasn't stupid.  She had to know the kind of life her son had led, was most likely still leading.  

His uncle was cold.  He could break his mother's heart if he kept on in the same tracks as those he was presently rutted in.  Sou wondered if he was risking the chance of breaking her heart as well.  He wondered if she cared about him that much, or if she was starting to close him off in her heart.  Was Kaoru really important enough to him to risk throwing his family back into the chaos that had formed when his uncle had first been arrested until the end of his trial?  Was she worth all the pain?  He had no doubt that he would risk it all for her if it was only about him, but did he have the right to risk his family's happiness for his own?  He should have considered the consequences before he went and talked to his uncle, because Sou knew very well that he had sealed the deal when he'd told Shishio Kaoru's story.  There would be no going back.

"No one else but me seems to have faith in him these days," his obasan continued a minute later.  "They can't forgive him for tarnishing the family name all those years ago."

Sou felt uncomfortable.  It wasn't often that an adult chose to confide family information in him.  He'd only been a child when his uncle had gone to the mental hospital, only ten years old.  He remembered an intriguing man who'd dropped in at the strangest times to his parent's home in America and brought him and his brother and sisters wonderful presents, technological presents that weren't even out in stores yet.  Come to think of it, whenever his uncle had dropped by, there had always seemed to be a shadow over his parents' happiness, as if they were suspicious of Shishio's reasons for being in America.  His older sister had asked about it once, but they'd told her nothing was wrong.  She'd only been twelve after all.  Sou understood their reasoning in not burdening their children with the problems of an adult world.  Sou, being the second oldest at ten, had not given his sister's question an extra thought after their parents reassured her.  Now, he wondered what her opinion of their uncle was.  Was she one of the ones who had not forgiven him, as his grandmother claimed?  He wondered what she would think if she knew he'd gone to see their uncle for Kaoru, a girl she was not overly fond of.  He knew the two had clashed once or twice over him.  Perhaps it was best not to tell her then.

"Don't have too much faith in him though, Soujiro.  He was never one to take the feelings of others into concern before he acted.  Perhaps I should have been more strict in raising him, but he was the youngest, my baby boy."

Sou sensed this was the closest his grandmother would come to telling him exactly what had happened ten years ago, to admitting that what his uncle had done was wrong.

"Don't blame yourself, Sobo.  Oji is different."

"I know, Soujiro, I know."  She seemed to snap back into reality.  "Honey, you drive like an old lady!  Don't let that man cut you off next time!" she fumed, glaring daggers at the back of a red Toyota.

Sou sighed.  "Yes, Sobo."

"Don't you 'yes, Sobo' me!  Put the pedal to the metal, kid.  I want to get back home in plenty of time to get dressed up for the party tonight," she fussed.

Sou sighed again.  "Gomen-nasai."  He pushed his foot down on the gas and sped faster and faster away from his uncle.

_God, Ken.  Why'd it have to rain tonight?_

_Use the time to catch up on something.  You haven't helped me manage the books in a while._

_I'm above money._

_Money is what got us this apartment.  It looks like we may need to take on another job soon though.  We're getting low again._

_Again?__  What is it with inflation!?!_

_It's the increase in technology.  The humans don't know how to run anything-_

_You've got that right!  You'd think they'd be able to control the weather by now with all these other gadgets they've thought up.  It's not right, Ken, not right._

_This from the guy who was afraid of trains and cameras.___

_It's unnatural I tell you!_

_What does all this have to do with the rain?_

_It's depressing.  I don't feel like going outside.  You'd think they'd have invented something better than the umbrella._

          "I don't much like the idea of leaving you while I go with those guys."  I hate the idea, he wanted to say.  I never want to leave you alone.

          "You know there's no other choice.  They might not know where the apartment is.  If you take me back there, we'll have no safe house."

          "They already know.  How else would they have found you in the temple?  They can't sense you."  That wasn't completely true.  If he could sense her, that special quality in her ki signature that drew him to her, then surely it wouldn't be hard for other vampires to sense her, or someone like her.  He could also feel humans with ki similar to hers, scattered about the city, but they were all contacts.  Her ki should be muted by the earrings hidden by her long hair in any case.

          "They can sense you, can't they?"

          "I doubt it.  I was careful to hide my energy signal after I had fed and I was too weak before then."

          "You're underestimating yourself.  Sometimes you practically _glow_ with ki.  They must have sensed you when we left the apartment.  I think there's a big chance they don't know where it is."

          Her mention of ki made him pause for a moment.  He hadn't known she could sense energy.  Still, she was wrong.  It had been an error of judgment on his part to think he could show his face in LA and not draw their attention sooner rather than later.  "You don't know these people like I do.  They must have been tracking me since the beginning of the night to get comfortable enough to deliver you that message the way they did."

          "Who are they then?" she asked pointedly.

          Ken sighed and led her to stand by the bench a few feet away.  "LA used to be the place for vampires to develop connections and gain influence.  Things started getting out of hand a while back, so a few vampires got together to form their own protection service for the city.  Now no vampire can come to the city without letting them know, or they'll have to face the consequences."

          "So why didn't you tell them then?"  It seemed a simple thing.  Men could be so exasperating.  Now they had to waste time to deal with the vampire police of LA.  And to think just last week she would have scoffed at the idea.

          "They make you wait around for permission, and I couldn't afford to do that.  Also, I couldn't really explain your presence because you're not my contact, and then there's the fact that the dark one will get word that I'm in town once they know.  I couldn't be sure they weren't working with the dark one anyway.  I still can't be sure, but I have to take the risk.  They won't harm you as long as I go."

          So it was all her fault.  Sigh.  Wasn't it always?  It seemed her hanging around Ken was just slowing him down and putting him at more risk.  If she didn't think she loved him, she would have left and dealt with those hunters in her own way.  "But who says they won't hurt you?  What are those consequences you mentioned?"  Kaoru asked skeptically.

          "They don't apply to me.  Their leader owes me a favor.  It's been ten years, but I'm sure he hasn't forgotten."

          "You can't be sure," she protested, even though he had almost completely convinced her that going through with the meeting was the only way.  There was no way they could get out of LA in time, even if Ken had been willing to abandon his search for the dark one.  She could never ask him to do that.

          Ken nodded.  "I freed him.  He'll know me."  Ken hoped he still wasn't angry about that, or things might not go in his favor.  Well he'd had ten years to cool down, so hopefully…

          "Freed him?"

          "It's not my story to tell.  Maybe he'll tell you if you meet him some day.  But for now I want you to call a cab and have him drive you around for a half hour.  Here's enough money to cover the cost."

          Kaoru frowned, but took the money.  "Where should I have him drop me off?"

          Ken closed his eyes, deep in thought.  "Back at the apartment eventually.  I'll catch up with you in an hour or two.  Now walk a couple blocks before you hire the cabbie, alright?"

          Kaoru lowered her head to hide her distress.  "Sure, Ken."  Something in her voice must have given it away to him, because he tilted her head up with his left hand, in which he didn't hold the umbrella, and gave her a reassuring smile.  "I'll be fine.  See you in an hour or two, okay?"

          "I don't think this is going to go as smoothly as you want me to believe.  I wish we could just leave, but I know how important finding the dark one is to you."

          "If you want I'll put you on a plane to Philly.  All you have to do is ask, Kaoru," Ken said seriously.  God, how much he hoped she would never ask.  He was relieved when she was indignant.

          "I'm not leaving you.  Besides, Jineh and that other weird vampire hunter could still be back there, just waiting for me to come back.  I'll never ask that."

          "Then go.  I don't think my being late would create a favorable impression in this case."  He pushed the umbrella into her hand and caressed her face a last time before turning away.  Kaoru sighed, watching him walk down the sidewalk in the light drizzle.  Something felt wrong.  For one thing, it almost never rained in Los Angeles.  Why now?  If she was the type to believe in omens she would be even more spooked out then she was now, as if that was possible.  Ken turned the corner and was gone into the night.  She sighed and turned away as well, hoping she could find a cab to catch at close to three in the morning.  She was lucky LA was just as busy as New York, she reflected, waving a hand in front of her face to relieve some of the heat.

          _A rose by any other name would smell as sweet._

_            Why are you quoting Shakespeare at me?_

_            Because that guy lived before us and he's still remembered.  We need to do something big so that people are quoting shit we say five hundred years later too._

_            Dream on, Sano.  I'll settle for a happy ending to my story over everlasting fame._

_            Ken, Ken.  Always the romantic.  Is that how you get all your contacts half in love with you?_

_            Nope.  It's the skills._

_            Yeah right._

          "Sou."

          Soujiro turned around abruptly at the sound of her voice.  It was just his older sister.  He breathed a sigh of relief.  For some reason he'd had the crazy thought that it would be one of his uncle Shishio's reputed 'loose' women and he would be standing with his arm around her waist, smirking, waiting for Sou to come to him.  He blushed in shame.  How could he have mistaken his own sister for one of Shishio's whores?  It was best not to tell her about that for a very long time.

          "Yes?" he asked, careful to paste an innocent smile on his face.

          "Why did you go with Sobo to visit our uncle?"

          Sou winced.  It never was his sister's way to mince words.  He wondered how her boyfriend dealt with her blunt observations and statements.  "I hadn't seen him in a long time.  That's all.  Sobo needs someone to go with her and visit.  She shouldn't be driving all alone."

          "That's a load of bullshit, Sou.  You never felt any inkling to go and visit that bastard before.  Why did you go today?"

          Sou sighed and walked over to his elder sister.  The demure lady of Japanese history she certainly was not.  He took her into his arms and gave her a tight hug.  "I had to, sis.  But I can't tell you now.  There's no way you would believe me."

          "Are you mixed up in something bad, Sou?" she asked, a tinge of fear creeping into her voice.  

          Sou was glad he could not see her face.  The tremor in her voice was enough to make him want to crack down and tell her all.  He had to resist, for Kaoru.  "I'm not, Atsuko.  Everything's fine with me."

          He was relieved to hear her voice rock steady once more.  "Then it must have to do with someone else.  Is it one of your friends, Sou?"

          "No, no.  Everyone's fine.  Can't you believe that I just wanted to see our uncle again with my own eyes?  I wanted to know first hand if the stories were true.  This may have been the last time we come to Japan.  You know Tousan's about to retire.  And with me still going to college, and the rest of our siblings about to enter, we won't have any money to make another journey here."

          He could tell his voice was soothing her, but she still wasn't satisfied.  "Sou, don't you remember what a horrible man he is?  He was always like that.  I could tell even when we were children and he used to come by bringing us presents.  There's just something in his eyes that's wrong."  She shivered against him.

          "I know, Atsuko, but I had to see for myself.  I was younger than you when he used to come and visit.  I didn't remember."

          Then she completely changed her tone.  "It's Kaoru, isn't it?"  At his silence, she pushed away from him in anger and he was met with the wrath of her stare, which was about equal to Kaoru's the one time he'd gotten drunk and shown up at her hours last summer.  That stare had sobered him up in a hot minute.  The stare his sister was giving him was mostly directed at Kaoru, whom she couldn't stand, and only halfway directed at him, so he found he could bear it easier.  "That little bitch!" she swore.

          Sou glowered at her.  "Don't call my girlfriend a bitch."

          "I don't care, Sou!  She's messing with my baby brother!  What could she possibly be involved in that would make you go to someone like Shishio for help?  Is it drugs?"

          Sou held up his hands half in protest, half to fend his sister off.  She was coming dangerously closer with each question and looked like she wanted to take her aggression out on the closest person.  That just had to be him.  "She doesn't think she's mixed up in anything she can't handle.  That's where I think she's wrong."

          "Rrrr!  I'm going to call her up and scream at that little hussy right now!  What time is it in Pennsylvania?!"

          Sou lowered his head so his bangs covered his eyes, finding he couldn't bring himself to meet hers.  "She's not there."

          He could hear the surprise and disbelief in her voice.  "Then where is she?  Did she go on that vacation with her parents after all?"

          "I can't tell you, Atsuko."

          "What do you mean you can't tell me?  We're family, Sou.  I am going to love you for the rest of your life.  You two could break up next month."

          "Do you really think she's that horrible?" Sou asked sadly.  "I love her, Atsuko.  I can't just let her go."

          Tears welled up in her eyes.  "I just can't make myself believe she loves you as much as you think, Sou.  She takes you for granted.  It won't last and I just don't want to see you get hurt."

          "Atsuko-"

          Their grandmother swept into the room then.  Sou had never been so happy to see her in his life.

          She took one look at the situation and threw up her hands.  "What's going on here?  What did you do to her, Soujiro?"

          He backed away in protest.  "I didn't do anything, Sobo."

          He didn't know why she chose to side with him, but side with him she did, huffing and turning on his sister.  "This about your brother's decision to visit his own uncle, your own flesh and blood then?  Shame on you child!  He's a grown man.  You have no right to get him all worked up when you can't even muster up the courage to face your uncle."

          "Sobo!  That's not true.  I'm only looking out for my brother!"

          "Hush, child," she admonished, staring his sister down until she once again, looked like a demure Japanese lady.  She turned to Sou and gave him a withering glance, as if to convey her exasperation that he'd managed to botch the whole thing up.  Then she grabbed his sister's arm and led her out of the room, scolding her the whole way.  Atsuko did not look up at Sou as they passed.

          He grimaced, watching his sister until she turned the corner.  He didn't like fighting with her.  Their arguments came few and far between, all besides this last fight that burned like an ember at the root of their relationship.  It had been waging ever since Atsuko had met Kaoru and developed an instant dislike for her, he realized.  Would it ever end?  He only hoped she could forgive him for going after Kaoru and enlisting his uncle's help, because he sure as hell wasn't going to back down now.

          _This one chick said that Christmas lights are pretty.  Don't you think they're just an unnecessary expenditure of electricity?_

_            I don't know.  They're okay.  Ick, I think I've stayed in the States for too long._

_            You may have, Ken.  You just may have.  So does this mean you're getting me something for Christmas then? I've had my eye on this one car at the shop._

_            Your hints are so subtle._

_            Yes or no?_

_            …Sure.  You better get me something good then, though._

_            No worries, Ken.  No worries._

          She never made it to the corner.  Kaoru should have known that the vampires wouldn't let her, their one leverage point against Ken, evade their grasp.  They must be a truly admirable group if Ken had failed to notice their presence again.  What else could she do but play it cool when she felt a cold hand grasp her elbow from an alley just as she was about to turn a corner?  Still, she tried to let out a scream as she was pulled into the alley, but another cold hand was clamped around her mouth, making her attempt futile.  How the rest of the idiots walking on the street had missed her sudden disappearance she didn't know, but sure as hell, they had.  She struggled to free herself, but her wrists were firmly held behind her.  And then the same voice from the temple spoke in her ear, freezing all her attempts.  It was a vampire then for sure.

          "Sorry, orders.  If the Battousai doesn't want to cooperate, then we will use you as a bargaining chip.  We can't let our whole organization fall to one vampire.  Don't scream and it'll be much easier on you."  With brash confidence, he released his hand from her mouth.  

          Kaoru sure felt like screaming, but more at herself for being so weak that she could be used as a bargaining chip against Ken.  She knew that even if she did scream, there was no way a human could help her.  If all vampires were as fast as Ken and she'd be gone by the time help arrived.  So she simply vowed to be clever and beat him at his own game.  "I won't scream," she said, careful to lace her voice with tones of defeat.  Her mind was racing.  The only chance she had was to somehow get him to let go of her wrists and then ward him off with her earrings, or to just hope that it still hurt vampires when you kicked them in the nuts.

          The first plan went down the drain when she felt him tying her wrists together with a metal cord.  Her purse, which still rested on her shoulder, slid uncomfortably down to rest in the crook of her elbow.

          "Glad to hear that."  

          His tone was neutral; she couldn't tell if he believed she'd given up or not.  In any case, all hope that her second plan might work was going down the drain as he tied a blind fold around her eyes.

          "Sorry, you can't see where we're going," his voice came from behind her.  When he was satisfied with the knot, she heard him move away, but only for a second, not long enough to run.  "Our ride's almost here."

          Her panic increased.  Ride?  That meant there had to be more of them.  Well they couldn't very well pick her up and run with her to wherever they were taking her.  While her chances of taking on one vampire were smooth, she knew she'd never last against more than one, especially blind-folded.  "Where are you taking me?" she asked, more to get a feel as to where he was.  She'd lost his position in the dark.

          "Same place we'll be taking the Battousai."

          He was directly in front of her.  Reaching back into the past and relying on the kendo lessons she'd taken all her life before college, she lunged forward and kneed him in the crotch.  He went down with a grunt.  After a precious instant wasted regaining her balance, she was sprinting down the alley, hoping when she came out there would be enough witnesses to prevent him from attempting to take her again.

_            My underwear came out pink again!  I hate doing the laundry._

_            Just let me do it next time.  You have to sort it by color._

_            What the hell is that about?_

_            Look, if you wash the dishes from now on, I'll do the laundry._

_            Will you still cook?_

_            Yeah.  I know whenever it's your night to cook you order out and call it your own recipe._

_            I do not! . . .  How long have you known?_

_            Since the first night I asked you to cook._

_            Oh._

_            Don't order from Matty's Pizzeria again, okay?  They're way too overpriced and by the time it gets here, it's always cold._

          Late, late, late.  He'd been worried about being late.  They were now officially ten minutes late.  Ken found that really ticked him off.  He had other things to do before dawn besides hang around waiting for the local vampire group to approve his presence.  But they were more than just the local group and he had seriously scaled down the difficulty of the situation to Kaoru.  He only hoped they would see it fit to let Kaoru live if he didn't make it through the night.  Unlike Kaoru, he had no illusions that the Juppongatana knew exactly where his and Kaoru's rented apartment was located and they had probably established familiar contact with the landlord as well.  After a moment, Ken had to admit that was a little paranoid, but how else would he have survived the vampire culture for so long if he wasn't a little paranoid.  Kaoru had a relaxing effect on him, perhaps too relaxing since he had failed to sense the vampire that had assaulted her in the temple.

          Ken was starting to draw suspicious looks from passersby when a black limo pulled up at the corner and a vampire female he knew only as Tsubame stepped out and beckoned to him with a sweet smile upon her face.  Ken knew better than to fall for her innocent smiles and gestures, she was actually quite dangerous, but he pasted an innocent smile on his face and walked over to her.

          "It's been a long time," she said simply, extending her hand and bowing her head slightly in a gesture of respect, face slightly shadowed by her shoulder length brown hair.  "I'm sorry we had to meet again in these circumstances, but it's really all your fault."

          Ken winced inwardly.  It didn't look like he could count her as a possible ally this time.  He shook her hand and said nothing.

          She gave him a searching look, finally giving up with a quiet sigh.  "Get in then," she instructed, standing aside.

          He did as she instructed, not at all surprised to see two shady looking vampires already seated on one of the sofas in the limo.  He gave them nothing but a curt nod and seated himself.

          Tsubame slid gracefully in beside him and the limo started moving once again.  He couldn't see the driver through the tinted glass that blocked this part of the limo off into its own world.

          "I have to blindfold you now," she told him matter-of-factly, drawing a black piece of cloth from her purse.  "You'll let me right?"

          "Now I know why those two are here," Ken spoke for the first time, careful not to allow any emotion into his voice.

          "Just as a last resort.  I'm confident I wouldn't need their help if you refused," she said gamely.

          This was a different Tsubame from ten years ago.  She seemed to have gained much confidence, and if she wasn't bluffing, then she must have improved in skill as well.  Ken found himself wondering who would prevail in a sparring match between her and Misao Shinomori.  Ten years ago he would have said Misao and had no doubt in his mind that he'd made the right choice, but now…  He simply nodded, closed his eyes, and inclined his head towards her so she could place the blindfold across his eyes more easily.

          _You know how every phone number on television is 555-555-5555?  I wonder who would answer if I actually called it…_

_            That question is like 'how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?'  The world may never know, Ken._

          She ran into a hard body and bounced back, crying out as she lost her footing and landed on her butt.  She lost no time in appealing to the person in front of her.  Perhaps she had emerged from the alley and ran into a pedestrian on the sidewalk.  "Please help me, I'm being chased!  I only just got away!"

          The voice laughed, high pitched and slightly maniacal, and dread washed over her.  "That's a vampire from the Juppongatana about to get up from where you kicked him, miss.  You must have done something bad to attract his attention.  Therefore, you must be worthy of my time."

          Without further ado, he hauled her up roughly by her waist.

          Kaoru had a hunch she would have been better off with the 'Juppongatana' member.  She was starting to panic.  "Take my blindfold off," she ordered in her most commanding tone.

          "I think you'll be easier to manage with your blindfold on, actually," he commented, his voice higher pitched than normal and slightly nasal.  In a second he had her shoulder leaning against the side of the alley wall.  "Stay here while I distract this guy long enough to get off our backs."

          "What's to stop me from leaving?" she asked evenly.  Big mistake.  She could hear him drag a chain up and then felt him slide it through the bonds to her wrists and tie it.  She tried to move away, but found this new tether restricted her to a few steps in either direction from the wall.

          "That chain.  You'd best hope the right vampire wins.  If the Juppongatana are after a human, that probably means they're going to kill you.  Me, we'll just have a little fun for a while before I let you go, okay?" he advised.

          She hated his voice and herself for trusting the first person she'd run into.  With her luck it would be another vampire, and I rival one to the organization that Ken was meeting with no less.  She jumped when she felt his hand trace lightly across her butt.

          "Watch it!" she yelled indignantly, wishing she hadn't heeded Ken's words to walk a few blocks before catching a taxi.  Then she wouldn't be in her present situation, caught between two evils.  And it sounded like this new evil was not the lesser of the two.

          "Just wiping some gravel off from when you ran into me."

          "Leave her alone, Takeda.  She's my job," Kaoru's steely voiced temple vampire said from back the way she'd come.  So he was up, and in a relatively short time considering how hard she'd gotten him.

          "If your leader needs this girl, then I am going to do everything possible to stop you from getting to her."  The nasal voice was moving away towards the temple vampire.  So his name was Takeda.  Kaoru stored the information in the back of her mind for future reference.

          "Give it up.  We've clashed before.  There's no way you can win against me."

          "Haven't you heard of improvement?  I've been training especially hard for a showdown against one of the Juppongatana.  You'll do as well as any," Takeda scoffed.

          Kaoru heard their feet slide into a fighting stance and the battle was on.  She was almost as frustrated as Ken made her by her lack of awareness of the fight.  There was a heavy breather and a light breather, the light breather seemed to have the upper-hand, but she had no clue which vampire that was.  It sounded like they were fighting with knives, because there were clashes of steel.  After an eternity a cry of anguish reverberated from the area where they were fighting, and the heavier breather fled into the night.  The other vampire walked over to her and leaned against the alley wall facing her.  She could hear him breathing just out of her kicking distance.  Gradually his breathing returned to normal and he spoke.

          "Be grateful I won.  No woman deserves treatment by the likes of Kanryu Takeda."

          It was the temple vampire.  She possessed the strong conviction he was right.  Kaoru chose to say nothing.  She remained silent as he unwrapped the chain from the bonds that entrapped her wrist and lead her to the mouth of the alley.  Leaving her alone for a moment once again to check the mouth of the alley, he apparently found what he was looking for, because he let out a grunt of satisfaction and picked her up abruptly bridal style, depositing her seconds later on the cushion of a car's seat.  He pushed her head down, not hard, but firmly.  "I'll tell you when you can get back up."

          It was all in Ken's hands now.  She'd tried her best to get away.  She only hoped he boasted as good terms with this leader as he'd told her.

          _Why did you go to war?_

_            For the honor of my country._

_            Would you go to war for my honor?_

_            Yes._

          "Just a little farther now," Tsubame's voice encouraged as she led him by the hand through the halls of a building.  The limo ride had lasted just long enough to disorient him as to what direction they were traveling in.  When the ride had stopped, it was relatively quiet, though he could still hear the rush of car tires whispering in the rain.  If Tsubame dared let him be visible from the street, then the Juppongatana must have bought out the whole area of the city where their headquarters were located, no doubt under different names.  Then she'd led him inside, always polite, as if instructing a blind friend to avoid potential hazards in his path.  They'd gone up an elevator, he could tell from the way it affected his stomach, and were now walking to the room where he would meet the leader of the Juppongatana.  He suspected she had put in a good more twists and turns in their route then necessary.

          Presently, they arrived at their destination, whereupon she opened a door, led him through, and set him down in a plush chair.  He could sense the energy signature of the leader as well as a few other vampires.

          "We're here.  Thank you for being so cooperative," she intoned, swiftly untying the black cloth from his eyes.

          The first thing Ken noticed when he opened his eyes was that he was sitting at the end of a long rectangular table that seated about fourteen, in what looked like a business office.  Tsubame was walking down to the far end of the table, where she sat down to the right of the leader after murmuring something in his ear.  The seat to the leader's left was vacant, while four other vampires Ken wasn't familiar with sat at the table as well.  They were all staring expectantly at Ken, waiting for him to apologize he guessed.  Like hell.  He simply stared at the leader, willing him to remember his debt to Ken.

          When it became painfully obvious that Ken was not going to speak, the leader did.  "Why have you come back without informing the Juppongatana, Battousai?  It's an insult to the whole organization."

          "I recognize that, but informing you would have revealed my presence to the dark one."

          The leader smirked, his brown eyes narrowing slightly in the framework of his tan features.  "So you're still out to avenge Sagara and his team.  They were the foolish ones, the Sekihoutai.  I have never understood why you were determined to waste your time on him."

          Ken remained silent.  Let the leader think what he wanted.  He would repay his debt to Sano or die trying.  A friendship and closeness like the one they had developed could not be destroyed without repayment in kind to the person responsible.  Besides, the other vampires were only revealing how cold they had become my not caring about the lives the dark one was destroying on its way to conquering the vampire world.  As cold as he had been before he met Kaoru, even he could reach far enough ahead in the future to see the inevitability of that truth.  He felt only contempt for those groups that opted to stay in their own territory and wait until the dark one trapped them to make a stand.  The Shinomori's were making that same mistake with their Oniwaban group, Ken believed, though he and Aoshi had argued the issue so often that Ken had given up trying to persuade him to change the way he ran the group.

          "Trust in the confidentiality of the Juppongatana, next time, Battousai.  We will let you live, but you must pay a debt to the organization now."

          Ken's temper flared.  "My debt was paid when I saved your existence ten years ago," he reminded the leader in his most even tone.  "If anything, we are even."

          The leader leaned forward.  "That is where you are wrong.  You did not bother to announce the presence of the human woman either."

          So they were going to try and bring Kaoru in to it.  "She does not need your permission to come and go in LA.  She's not my contact."

          "Guilt by association.  She is aware of the vampire culture and you are the one who has watched over her since you entered the city.  If you had left her with humans, we may have forgiven her that, but she stayed with you through the night, the day, and tonight.  You must pay a debt to the organization, or she must die."

          "I will not.  If I don't return, she will know to leave the city," Ken bluffed, hoping Kaoru would.  "I may have done what you asked out of respect for you, Yahiko Myojin, but not after you tried to blackmail me into the task."

          Myojin nodded as if that was fine with him.  Ken was instantly suspicious.  No leader of an organization as enormous and influential as the Juppongatana would ever give up that easily.  To his surprise, the leader's cell phone rang, to the tune of 'I'm a Believer' nonetheless.  Ken could do nothing but blink in surprise and annoyance when he actually interrupted their meeting to reach in his pocket, draw out the cell phone, and answer the call.  He conversed in low tones that Ken didn't bother to try to make out with his keen vampire hearing.  Ken wouldn't give him enough respect to deem his conversation worthy of listening to, rather he looked over the room and the vampires in it, gauging escape routes and how much energy it would take him to beat each of the vampires in the room.  Tsubame looked annoyed at her leader's rudeness, while the other vampires simply set there with impassive expressions on their faces.

          When Myojin was finished with his call, he turned back to Ken with a truly remorseful expression on his face.  "I'm sorry about this, Ken."

          Ken started.  The other vampire had not called him Battousai.  Tsubame looked over at her leader as well, her keen gaze trying to read his intentions.  So she didn't know his plans either?  Ken knew he could use that information in his favor.

          "That was Hajime Saitou.  I sent him out to collect the human woman.  Apparently, she almost got away from him once, and ran into Kanryu Takeda."

Ken grimaced.  This was bad.  There was no telling what Kanryu would do to her.  

"You'll be happy to know that Saitou was able to retrieve her from that particular situation," Myojin cut into Ken's thoughts.

He couldn't help but breathe easier at that.  Takeda was merciless when it came to dealing with humans.

"They're here now.  If you do not agree to carry out the task I have appointed to you, we will torture her until you do."

Tsubame stifled a gasp and covered her mouth with her hands in an effort to compose herself.

"You're bluffing," Ken stated flatly.  How could they have managed to apprehend her in front of all the people frequenting LA anyway?  Still, he wouldn't put it past Saitou to get the job done, though he was extremely surprised that Saitou was working for Myojin.  He'd always thought it would turn out the other way around.

Just then the door behind Ken, the one that he and Tsubame had come through, opened.  Ken risked turning his back on the six vampires.  It was Kaoru, blindfolded with her hands tied behind her.  Saitou, guiding her along by her shoulders, towered over her.  He let his eyes roam over her, searching for just one scratch.  She appeared unhurt, and though still, composed.  Saitou on the other hand, was sporting several cuts and a serious gash across his left shoulder that a medic vampire must have bandaged at one point.  He released her to shut the door quietly.  She didn't even try to run, somehow knowing she couldn't escape now, she just stood there until Saitou placed his hands lightly on her shoulders again, her purse dangling at the crook of her right arm.

"Well done as usual, Saitou."  The voice of Yahiko Myojin rang out over the room.

Ken watched as Kaoru tilted her head slightly in his direction.

"Take her blindfold off and untie her wrists."

Ken was angry.  Angry at himself for not making sure Kaoru was safely away before he had gone to meet the Juppongatana.  He'd been too selfish.  He should have done what was best for her and sent her back to Pennsylvania, surely the two hunters were gone by now.  No matter that it might break him to have her gone, he knew it would certainly break him to watch her tortured because of him.  He would have no choice but to obey Myojin and work for the Juppongatana.  He favored Saitou with a glare and quickly hid the anger in his eyes so Kaoru would know he didn't blame her for getting caught.

"Who are you?" Kaoru's voice rang back across the room, just as determined and powerful as the leader's had been.  So her temple vampire's name was Saitou.  She would have to thank him for saving her from that Takeda character, if she lived through the whole ordeal.  She remained still as Saitou first undid the bindings about her wrists.  As soon as her hands were free, she shoved her purse back onto her shoulder and reached up, undoing the blindfold on her own.  

The first person she saw was Ken, staring at her and looking slightly worried.  The question in his eyes was plain.  Did he hurt you?  She was so shocked to see him that she froze for an instant before shaking her head no slightly and trying to hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes.  He was okay.  He was unhurt.  A heavy weight she hadn't even realized was present lifted from her heart.  Ken was there.

Saitou walked in front of her view of Ken and she saw her captor/protector for the first time.  Tall, thin, and muscular with dark brown hair and dressed in simple jeans and a dark blue long sleeved collared shirt, his almost uniformed appearance was only marred by some cuts to the fabric and a wound on his shoulder where blood seeped through.  Saving her.  He'd gotten hurt saving her.  She realized that he was pulling a chair from the table to rest beside Ken.  Then he kept moving and sat to the left of the man at the head of the table.  The man at the head of the table.  He was studying her with obvious interest.  The woman next to him, whom she supposed his wife, looked like she was trying to wrestle with something that had been said before Kaoru entered the room, because Kaoru could see her emotions warring just below the surface as she struggled to hold her husband in the same esteem as she had before.  Kaoru hoped it was a long and hard struggle if that man was the leader of the Juppongatana.

"I am Yahiko Myojin, the leader of the Juppongatana.  Have a seat."

"Kaoru Kamiya," she informed him, ignoring his command.  "I know you've only brought me here to use me against Ken.  As a supposed protector of the city, you're not doing your job."

"As a human, you should have stayed away from vampire circles if you did not wish to become a contact.  Then you would not find yourself in this situation.  I renew my offer of seating, Miss Kamiya."  He said evenly, brown eyes still neutrally taking her in.

          She nodded.  It didn't look like there was any rattling him.  Besides, it was a relief to sit by Ken.  She sank into the chair next to him.

          "Are you really okay?" he asked her quietly, leaning close and focusing completely on her, as if they weren't in the Juppongatana headquarters.

          "I'm fine," she assured him, feeling uplifted by his presence.  Just being around him reinforced her will to bear all this gracefully and keep up her strength.  "I'm just glad you're okay.  I was worried."

          He smiled at her then.  "Just so you know, no matter what happens, none of it's your fault, Kaoru."  Ken didn't want her to blame herself for the completion of whatever mission the Juppongatana leader had in store for him.

          Kaoru was scared then.  What Ken had just said made their situation sound gloomy and almost hopeless.  And he was being decidedly un-Ken-like by telling her not to put the blame on herself.  Ken seemed to be trying hard to turn over a new leaf where she was concerned, but she couldn't forget that cold exterior he could slip back into at will.  He seemed to sense that he'd said the wrong thing, because he leaned closer, took one of her hands in his, and kissed her lips lightly.  How had she forgotten how good it felt to be kissed by him already?  The world faded away for a couple precious seconds, until he pulled back and turned away from her to face the Juppongatana.  Kaoru stared at his profile for a few seconds more, willing herself to see what was in his mind, but it did no good.  He squeezed her hand lightly.  She wondered if that was supposed to be reassurance, or an order to face the front.  She decided to take it as both and turned to face the other vampires.

          The leader and his woman had been whispering among themselves.  The female vampire still looked distressed, though more composed.  Saitou, her temple vampire was looking at her with a bemused expression upon his face while he smoked a cigarette, while the four other vampires were starting to look antsy.  Kaoru was impatient to know what the whole meeting was about.  Were they going to punish Ken or not, and what did she have to do with it?  Ken hadn't been late, so there was no way they could use that excuse to kill her.

          Then the leader cleared his throat and spoke.  "As I was stating before, Battousai, you owe the Juppongatana a debt, therefore you must carry out this mission for us."

          "What is it?"  Ken asked, hoping to delay his acceptance long enough to think of a way out of the situation.

          Yahiko leaned forward slightly.  "A dangerous member of one of the other ruling vampire groups has infiltrated out net and is presently in LA.  Her name is Tomoe Yokishiro.  I want her dead."

Kaoru could feel Ken shift slightly in his seat, and he held her hand tighter, but otherwise showed no emotion.

"Who does she work for?"

"The Inshinshishi.  They are trying to take over LA and return it to the way it was before we took over by assassinating our most powerful and influential members.  We had a particularly sweet victory over them a few weeks ago, so now they've sent this Tomoe bitch in to spy and figure out where we stand."  

"This isn't my battle.  I'm only here to find the dark one.  I don't want to get caught up in your war, Myojin."

"You don't have a choice, Battousai.  Since you've completed several missions for the dark one, this should not be a problem," the leader of the Juppongatana finished icily.

"He's not your puppet," Kaoru shot at him.  "He saved your life.  You owe him.  Just kill her yourself if you want it done that bad."  She could hardly believe she was talking about killing someone so lightly.

"You're not in a position to order me around, Miss Kamiya.  I have already acknowledged the fact that I owe him my life.  I will spare his instead of killing him like I should have for disobeying the rules of the Juppongatana.  A life for a life.  It's your life that needs saving.  It's Tomoe Yokishiro or you, and Yokishiro must die by his hand.  A life for a life," Yahiko finished smugly.

Now Kaoru knew what Ken had meant when he'd told her not to blame herself.  She was the reason Ken would have to do as the Juppongatana said, the reason why he would have to face the consequences.  She blinked hard to free her eyes from the tears that threatened.

"If I'm going to kill Yokishiro for you, you can at least give me the information you know on the dark one.  Or is the Juppongatana now working for it?" Ken asked, not happy with the way the vampire had treated Kaoru.

"The dark one respects the Juppongatana enough to inform us when it will be entering the city, but we have not fallen low enough to work for it.  That will never happen.  You're flirting with death asking that question, Battousai."

Ken knew when he was beat.  There was no way out of this particular piece of blackmail.  Tsubame obviously didn't agree with her mate's decisions, but she wasn't going to go against him in front of his rivals.  "I accept your terms, Yahiko Myojin."

"I'm glad you see reason, Battousai."

"Yahiko-" the female vampire started softly.

He cut her off abruptly.  "I'll be sending Saitou with you until the task is done, Battousai.  And meanwhile, the Kamiya woman doesn't leave LA until Yokishiro is dead."

Saitou coughed loudly, having just choked on cigarette smoke.  "You're sending me with them!?!  Just let me kill the Yokishiro woman.  You know the Battousai and I have a past."

"You're the only one I can trust to be sure the job's done right, Saitou.  Don't doubt my orders."

Saitou nodded, but didn't look very happy about the whole thing.  None of them were as far as Kaoru was concerned.  She was already feeling the guilt of forcing Ken to take another's life.  She didn't even want to contemplate Ken's feelings.  The female vampire looked appalled and angry and the leader would no doubt be upset by the time she was done with him the first time she caught him alone.

"Tsubame will accompany you back to your apartment building.  As it will be dawn by the time Saitou gathers his things, he'll meet up with you both this evening."

There were nods of misery all around the table, except for Ken, who simply glared at the leader, his eyes a hard blue.  And then the four vampires who hadn't said a single word stood up, bearing black blindfolds, and darkness settled once again over Kaoru's eyes.

**A/N – Once again I beg your forgiveness that I didn't update for a month.  It's getting really sad, I know.  But in the meanwhile, I hoped you enjoyed the new chapter.  Please review and tell me what you thought if you feel like it.  Godspeed!**

**~Aryanne**


	9. Seta Soujiro

**A/N – Ah intersession in college rocks.****  Only two classes and plenty of time to sleep.  Only a week of it left though.  Then comes the school work.  ****L****  But for now, here's the newest chapter.  ****J**** My apologies at the late update, but here're 15 pages on Microsoft Word (which I don't own in case I need a disclaimer there).  Thanks to all the reviewers.  I am forever indebted to you all.**

**Silver Warrior, The Girl Who Cried Oro, ixchen, JML, Rinfirithiel, marstanuki, Koishii Sweet, Naiya-chan, DarkMave, Fanfiction Wanderer, Moondemon, Ginny-cry, Edainme, Mishorou Mie, Iram, Sagitarious Devil, Poppy 2, bootleg, Sticks, videl621, Eeevee, misakililin, CATGODDESS, Silver Eyes Bright, InsanexPsycho, Kenshin's Demon, Angel81, stoictimer, Hitokiri-miao miao, Sparrow of the Damned, KKoaru**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, but I bought some RK manga.  I don't own Cracklin' Oat Bran, but I have a box of it in my room.**

**Silver Cross**

****

**Chapter 9 – Seta Soujiro**

_I hate cleaning the toilet._

_I did it before. It's your turn._

_That's easy for you to say, sitting there all cozy reading a book or some shit._

_Are you done and that's why you're bitchin' about it to me?_

_No._

_Then get back to the toilet.  And don't forget to take a bath when you're done, you smell like shit._

_Your shit!_

_What's that supposed to mean?_

_It means I hate cleaning the toilet._

_You said that already.  I'm leaving.  I'll come back tomorrow night when you've cooled down or something._

_You can't just leave me here!_

_Bye._

_He left me . . ._

"I don't understand how you can be okay with this, Haha!"

"I can't fault Soujiro a visit to his uncle, Atsuko.  And don't speak so harshly to your own kasaan."

"But nothing good can come of this!" Atsuko argued in a quieter tone.

"Child, no matter what happens, your brother is a strong man.  He can take care of himself.  And besides, Shishio wouldn't let anything bad happen to his own nephew."  Soujiro's grandmother reassured her.

Soujiro was distressed that his sister was putting up so much opposition to his enlisting his uncle to help him find Kaoru.  Not that he'd told her what he'd done of course.  For all he knew, she was simply distressed that he'd talked to the man, though it _had_ been uncannily eerie the way she'd somehow known the whole thing had to do with Kaoru.  What was she, psychic?

Sou's mother walked over to where he was seated at the table and rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder.  "Don't worry about your sister, honey."  She paused and the sounds of Atsuko and his grandmother arguing could be heard.  "I have faith in you, and I'm sure your father does too.  If only he weren't out with my other brothers."  Soujiro could hear the frown in her voice at that last sentence, but he was still soothed nonetheless.  When it all came down to it, not even Kaoru could make him feel as calm and relaxed as his mother could.

Then it was all ruined as his uncle Shishio walked into the room.

There was a collective gasp among Soujiro, his sister, his mother, and his grandmother.  They simply stared at him in shock.  Atsuko's mouth hung slightly open.  No one moved.  Sou broke the spell by rubbing his eyes.  It had to be a dream, or a nightmare.  No.  He was still there and two strange men had just walked through the doorway after him.

Shishio's only reaction to the open staring was to smirk.  "I told Soujiro I'd send him some information through some friends, but I decided I my as well come myself," he announced to the room in general.

Sou's grandmother fainted dead away.  At least she was standing in front of the couch, Sou reflected.

"What are you doing here?!" Atsuko asked, leaning down to make sure their grandmother was okay, but not taking her eyes off her uncle.  Sou and his mother didn't bother to move.

Shishio had been looking in Sou and his sister's direction, but now he inclined his head towards his niece and unconscious mother.  "I just told you," he said icily, letting her know he didn't appreciate the lack of respect in which she addresses him.  Then his tone loosened.  "My you've grown up, Atsuko.  It seems like only last week I was visiting you in America and you were twelve years old."

"My daughter's right to ask, Shishio," Sou's mother said firmly.  "I think as your family we have a right to know why you're here."  She stepped closer to Shishio and in front of her son.

"I would've expected a warmer welcome from you, my only sister."

"I am truly happy to see you, however I don't deem it wise to move until you tell me what these men are doing in our mother's house uninvited."

Shishio gave her a bemused look.  "I invited them."

"You don't live here anymore," she told him flatly.

He gave her a lazy smile.  "I suppose that's true, but who are you to tell me?  Your home is in the States.  In any case, I haven't come here for you.  Sou is coming with me."

Sou's mother turned back to him for a second, taken aback, but then she faced her brother again.  "Sou, is this true?"

Sou bowed his head.  His hair hid his eyes from his sister's accusing stare.  "My uncle said he would gather information for me about Kaoru.  I wanted to know if she was in any danger.  Since he is here, I am assuming she is.  I have to go after her," Sou announced, standing.

His mother turned to him, placing restraining hands on her arms.  "But, hon, why was your uncle the best person to ask about this?  Surely you could have come to me or your father first?"

"I would never expect my mother to know the nature of what I asked him, or my sister."

Slow comprehension dawned on his mother's face.  "Then she's gone and gotten herself mixed up with a vampire, hasn't she?"

Sou was sure his shock mirrored his sisters.  How could his mother believe that vampires existed?

"They had everything to do with why your uncle went to the mental hospital.  I suppose I should have told you kids, but I didn't think you would ever become mixed up with that culture.  Not all vampires are bad, Sou, that's why I disagree with the hunters, with your uncle."

"Mom-"

"Hush.  I'll let you go, but don't you make the wrong decision and harm someone when it's not necessary."  She leaned up and whispered in his ear.  "I don't trust your uncle even though I love him, and I don't like the look of those men with him.  If you really have to go, I'm powerless to stop you, but please keep yourself safe, Soujiro.  I love you."  With that she hugged him fiercely and turned back around to face her brother.

"Mom!  You can't let him go!" Atsuko protested, rushing over to her brother and mother.

"Atsuko, I have to go for Kaoru.  I'm sorry.  Don't worry, I'll come back."  Soujiro made the effort and smiled at her.

"I can't help worrying about you, you dumb boy," Atsuko cried, tears running down her face.  Sou was sad to see his sister crying over him once again.  She punched him in the chest halfheartedly before giving in and simply hugging him as tightly as she could.  Sou hugged her back, hoping this was a sign that she'd forgiven him a little.

"It's time to go, kid.  We've got a flight to the States to catch in an hour.  We've already got your luggage in the car," Shishio broke in.

"Promise me you'll watch over my son, Shishio," Soujiro's mother said, still standing between her son and her brother.

"I will, dear sister," Shishio said, managing to convey the feeling that he was lying through his teeth with this tone.  "I promise he will be returned to you."

Sou gulped.  His uncle my as well have added 'dead or alive'.  He disentangled himself from his sister gently and she ran sobbing to his mother.  "See you, Atsuko.  See you, Mom.  I love you both, and tell Sobo and everyone else I love them."  He kissed his mom on her forehead as he walked by.  "Love you."

In a blur of motion Sou was sitting in the front passenger seat of a jeep while his uncle drove.  He found it unsettling to have the two strange men in seated behind him.  He had the uneasy feeling he should keep them where he could see them at all times.  But then they introduced themselves and told him that they'd just flown in from Pennsylvania, and that they'd run into Kaoru and the vampire she was with.

"The name's Enishi, and this is my paycheck once I catch that bastard, Jin-e."

The white haired man held out his hand to shake.

Sou pushed all the worried thoughts of his mother and sister from his mind and focused on the task ahead.  He twisted around in his seat and grasped the man's hand.  "Soujiro Seta.  Tell me when you saw them."

_Baths are so much better than showers._

_How do you have time for them?_

_I make time.  Sure some people accuse me of being lazy, but is that the truth? Nah.  I'm just managing my time in a leisurely fashion.  It pays off._

_I accuse you of being lazy._

_Ah, I see the masses have you brainwashed._

The blindfolds were removed the second Ken and Kaoru were outside of the car and standing on the sidewalk.  The first sight Kaoru was graced with was the apartment building's front doors.  She sent up a thankful prayer to the Lord before spinning around and watching as the taillights of their captor's car disappeared into the hot LA night.  She let out a growl of frustration before turning around slowly to face the apartment building once again.  There was nothing else to do.  Ken already had the apartment building door unlocked.  Not really surprised at his lack of interest in the Juppongatana getting away, she sighed and hurried to him.  "Ken, I'm sorry I let Saitou catch me.  I should have been more careful-"

"Don't say anything," he silenced her.  His voice was cold and impersonal.  Kaoru had the impression he wasn't really paying attention to her, but was mulling over some issue in his mind.  "I don't want the landlord to become suspicious if he's not already.  Do you want to shower first when we get back?"

Kaoru was hurt that he was closing her off again.  She had thought that after that kiss in the rain he would understand that he could open up to her.  Of course he hadn't said he trusted her enough to do that.  She mustered up the last of her will to compose herself.  After a few seconds of fighting the warring emotions, she found she was able to nod and walk ahead of him to the elevator.  She willed herself not to be weak.  Ken didn't need her crying to add to his troubles.

The journey up to their apartment was made in a heavy silence.  As soon as they reached the apartment door and Kaoru unlocked it, she flipped on the light switch, flooding the central living room with light.  Tossing her purse and keys down on the hall table, she headed directly for the bathroom without a word.  Ah the safety and privacy of the bathroom.  

Then she saw them.  Her silver earrings lay on the bathroom counter, glinting in the bathroom light.  Her hands flew to her ears.  They weren't there.  Of course they weren't because they'd been lying on the counter the whole time.  She must have left them there when she'd come in to wash her face before they left the apartment earlier that night.  No wonder that Saitou vampire from the Juppongatana had been able to find her so easily.  It was all her fault that Ken had been discovered and that he had to kill another vampire, another person.  Quickly turning on the shower, she choked down a sob, glad there was no way Ken could hear over the running water.  Scolding herself for her weakness, she started to strip down.

Tomoe Yukishiro.  The name rang through Ken's head.  So they were to finally meet again.  In hindsight, he supposed he'd been a little harsh in not letting Kaoru know everything was alright between them, but surely she already knew.  He had no doubt she was simply tired and that was why she had rushed to the bathroom.  At any rate, he was having trouble coming to grips with the fact that he would have to face her again, the vampire he'd been avoiding since even before he'd met Sano.  He had no doubt she would be surprised to see him, but cool and smooth as always.  Scratch the surprised.  She was probably ready to have a confrontation with him that very moment.  Tomoe was always ready for anything.

And Saitou.  Ken groaned inwardly.  Did it have to be Hajime Saitou he was stuck with until he found Tomoe?  Ken would only allow himself to think 'found', not 'killed'.  He had never cared much for the man, though he had respected his philosophies and the principles by which he operated.  Too bad it had all come to a header ten years ago and Ken had been the winner.  He had no doubt Saitou bore him a grudge for that, which would make the man even harder to deal with than it would have been under optimal circumstances.  He knew a clash between Saitou and Kaoru was bound to happen too.  She was not the most subtle person and would no doubt NOT appreciate the man's smoking.  Perhaps it was a smoke free apartment building though; then he could use that excuse to convince Saitou to let her win any argument that might grow from his actions.  And speaking of the apartment building, how was he supposed to explain Saitou to the landlord?  The man would have to be a relative.  Kaoru's cousin would be a safe bet.  Hopefully Kaoru wouldn't mind too much.  How had Ken's simple mission to kill the dark one become so complicated?  He couldn't help but laugh a little at that particular thought.  His mission had never been simple.  

For a moment he felt like lying back on the couch and simply never waking up, but that wouldn't solve anything and he knew it.  Then he remembered Tomoe.  He had to kill Tomoe Yukishiro.  That was not an encounter he was looking forward to.  As if killing her would be a simple matter.  She was even older and more experienced in the art of fighting than Misao.  He wondered if her specialty was still throwing knives.  He wondered why he hadn't yet reacted to the news that he would have to kill again, even if it was a vampire, one of the kind that wasn't truly alive any longer.  And why had he felt that killing Tomoe was the only solution?  

Ken told himself that it was just the fact that a human's life took priority over the life of a vampire.  That had always been his ethical belief, founded when he had first become a vampire.  Unless it was a hunter.  If the lives of vampires who were innocent of killing humans were in danger, then the hunter would have to be put out of commission.  Killing was not always necessary.  Blackmail was usually just as effective when the wager was the hunter's life.  Therefore the fact the Kaoru was a human took all precedence over the slowly growing horror of having to kill again.  Tomoe was half dead already, and he had had nothing to do with that.  

Ken realized that he truly couldn't afford to have a weakness if he was going to kill the dark one.  It would be best to send Kaoru away once he had killed Tomoe and then seek her out later, when the danger was past.  If the Juppongatana were in league with the dark one, which he doubted, then it had been a mistake to kiss Kaoru in front of them.  Word of her would reach it and her life would be in even more danger.  But he had needed her to remain calm and that was the only way he could think to reassure her without talking and giving away useful information to the Juppongatana.  It had also showed Yahiko that Kaoru was his and he would gain an enemy if she was harmed.  Ken couldn't be sure he had made the right decision, but his goal to keep her quiet had been achieved and he couldn't deny that the kiss had served to comfort and give confidence to himself as well.  Still, the end result had not been favorable.  He had to kill Tomoe Yukishiro.

Ken was still on the couch thinking of Tomoe when Kaoru came out of the bathroom, flooding the apartment with the scent of jasmine.  He couldn't help but turn to look.  Her long black hair was pulled up into a ponytail, providing a pleasing contrast to how she'd looked all night with her hair down.  She was wearing nothing but a towel, wrapped snugly around her, that just revealed the tops of her breasts.  Ken remembered that her clothes were still in a suitcase in the bedroom.  Her long legs shone in the dim light, ending in slender ankles and cute feet; well at least he thought so.  But there was something wrong.  Her eyes were downcast.  She didn't look at him once as she announced that she was done with her shower and disappeared abruptly into the bedroom, shutting the door softly behind her.

Ken could have kicked himself.  Why didn't he pay closer attention to her moods?  Now she would be much harder to deal with.  If only he could keep her happy all the time, she wouldn't present so much trouble.  Sighing inwardly, he decided she wouldn't much appreciate him questioning her about what was wrong before she was dressed, so he simply got up and went to take his shower.  Maybe the hot water would wash all the feelings of distaste and anger away.

Kaoru allowed her mind to drift from topic to topic as she dressed, anything but focusing on Ken.  Kenshin Himura, damn you for making me feel this way.  I wish… She realized she didn't know what it was she was wishing.  Only days ago she would have wished to see Sou again so he could comfort her, or one of her parents, but now she only wished Ken would snap out of whatever mood he was in and talk to her again.  Pulling on a pair of shorts over her panties, she decided to go out into the living room.  Ken would need to change in the bedroom, and besides, maybe she could get involved in her book and forget the world for a while.  Yeah, right, but it might be worth a try.

She heard the door snick open when Ken got out of the shower and then she heard his footsteps as he padded from the bathroom to the bedroom.  She forced herself not to look.  She didn't think she could stand seeing him there with just a towel rapped around his waist, his chest exposed, and not rush over to hug him and cry.  She'd finally become immersed in the novel when Ken plucked the book from her hands and sat down next to her, wearing a t-shirt and boxers.

Tossing it on the end-table next to him, his serene violet eyes stared into her startled ones.  "It was inconsiderate of me to be short with you.  The mission I have to carry out for the Juppongatana has been weighing heavily on my mind."

Was that a carefully masked apology?  Even if it wasn't, Kaoru couldn't let him blame himself when he wouldn't be in this mess if she wasn't there.  She might as well tell him about the earrings before it weighed too heavily on her mind.  "I'm sorry.  It's my fault.  I wasn't wearing the earrings, Ken.  That's how Saitou must have been able to find me and use me against you," she confessed.

Ken was actually surprised.  She hadn't been wearing the earrings the whole night and he hadn't even noticed.  It was his fault then.  He was many years wiser than her.  He should have been able to sense that her ki wasn't dulled because she wasn't wearing the earrings, not because his senses were increased from having just fed.  Here was more proof that he was weakening.  It was best if he sent her away as soon as possible.  Still, she was underestimating the Juppongatana if she thought that wearing the earrings would have stopped them from finding her.  They were simply too experienced.  

"That doesn't matter," Ken informed her quietly.  "Saitou would have sensed you.  He's much more powerful than you take him for, and they would have found out that I was here as soon as I started asking about the dark one around town anyway.  The confrontation was inevitable."

So they had found Ken through her.  Ken probably didn't realize what he'd given away, but he'd just admitted that they had sensed her first because of her high ki level or whatever it was Ken had told her she possessed that attracted vampires to her, and _then_ they had noticed his presence.  It was all because of her forgetting to wear the earrings.  

"What you said doesn't make me feel any better.  I can't help blaming myself," Kaoru confessed, not able to hold his gaze any longer and staring down at her hands.

"Well help it.  I don't blame you for anything," Ken said, his tone harsh.  He crossed his arms in front of his body so he wouldn't reach out and shake her for thinking he could ever blame her for the whole situation.  It had been mounting to this climax decades before she was born.

"Are you really going to kill her?" Kaoru asked ignoring his evident pain at the idea of her shouldering the blame.  "I saw the way you tensed when the leader said her name."  Kaoru didn't want to ask what she had on her mind next, but she had to know.  "Is it knowing the name of someone you have to kill, or do you know her, Ken?" she asked softly, looking up and searching his eyes.  "You never react to anything, but you did to her name.  Do you love her?"

His laugh was immediate and harsh.  If he had ever been so delusional as to have thought he loved Tomoe, those days were long dead, along with his humanity.  "No," he said flatly, eyes glinting gold.  "I hate her.  She turned me into a vampire.  I heard she'd been killed by a hunter decades ago.  I was stupid to believe the rumor."  His tone was bitter.

Kaoru couldn't help but let out a breath she'd been unconsciously holding.  And to her surprise, Ken went on to explain his relationship with Tomoe in clipped tones.

"I was twenty-three; fighting a war in Japan when I met her.  I don't know why she chose me.  She could've picked any of the men at camp.  She seduced me.  I became her contact."  He paused for a moment, eyes unfocused, staring through the fog of years before continuing.  "I was mortally wounded on the battlefield a few weeks after our meeting.  She came to where I lay dying and told me she had a way for me to cheat death. . .  I took the coward's way out and allowed her to turn me.  I came to hate her as much as I hated myself.  As soon as I gained my full strength as a vampire we split ways after a fight and I never saw her again."

Kaoru certainly hadn't expected Ken to have that kind of relationship with Tomoe.  "Do you want to kill her?" she asked.  If he hated her so much, would he gain a certain satisfaction from carrying out the Juppongatana's orders?  Kaoru was almost afraid to hear the answer.  What was he becoming if he actually did want to?

Ken didn't answer for a long moment.  "That's what I've been trying to figure out.  I know I'm capable.  I just want to do it like I did in the war and have it over with.  If I do it out of emotion, then that means I've become a monster."

"You don't have to kill her, Ken."

"And let you die? It's against my beliefs, not to mention the humans who love you.  There are your parents and your boyfriend.  Tomoe has no one.  She won't be missed by any except the group she's working for."

Kaoru bowed her head.  "You underestimate yourself.  You could get me away."

"No, Kaoru," he said flatly, "You're the one underestimating the whole vampire culture.  If by some miracle, I did get you back to Pennsylvania, the Juppongatana would put a bounty out on your head.  Eventually, a vampire would find you and bring you back to their territory to be killed.  They would drug you in the day, and there's no way you could fight off a vampire at night."  He reached out and drew her to him so that she was half on his lap.  "I would hate her more if it wasn't for you.  I wouldn't be able to help becoming something I don't want to when I come across her again."  He traced a finger up and down her arm absentmindedly while his eyes burned into her and through her like fire.  "You must know that.  You help me see reason."

Kaoru bit her lip, trying not to shiver at his touch.  "I wish I wasn't such a burden to you," she spoke quietly.

"Never," he said fiercely.  "I need you.  When I fed earlier tonight I wasn't satisfied until I came back to you."  He stopped tracing up and down her arm and cupped her face in his hand, holding her close to him with the other and kissing her lightly.  He traced his lips down from her mouth to her chin and under her neck.  Kaoru tilted her head back, marveling at the sensation of his lips on her skin.  Ken pulled away when he felt himself start to lose control.  His teeth had almost penetrated her soft skin.  He refused to go back on his word and turn her into a contact.  Ken watched as Kaoru slowly tilted her head back down to look him in the eye with her dark blue irises, unaware of the danger she'd been in.  She was surprised to see his eyes a deeper violet than usual.  The small specks of gold had grown larger, so that his eyes swirled with a curious mix of purple and gold.  Beautiful.

"Kaoru."

The word practically purred from his lips.  Her mind had drifted off staring at him.  She blushed.  "Yes?"

"Pay attention."

Jolted from her reverie and annoyed that he'd said something so insensitive and ruined the moment, she rolled her eyes and moved to hit him to lighten the mood, but he caught her wrist in a loose grip and leaned inside her reach.  If Kaoru hadn't known she was awake, hadn't felt the warm heat of his hand around her wrist, she would have sworn she was dreaming; that she'd dreamed all of the past week, all their fights, all the times they'd made up.  He didn't allow her time to reply with words, drawing her into a kiss, probing into her mouth with his tongue, drawing the kiss out until she couldn't breathe so he gave her air.  Instead of shoving him with her other hand, she ended up sliding it around his neck to draw him closer even as he drew her to him.  Gone was the rest of the world.  It was just the two of them for a while, no worries, no fears, no vampires, no humans, and no hunters.  

By the time they both ran out of breath their limbs were hopelessly tangled together.  She'd somehow ended up on top of him, though she rather suspected he'd planned it that way, and he must have taken off her hair tie because it was lying on the floor and her hair was framing his face.

He smirked.  "I like a woman who's in charge."  

She could feel his breath on her chest and mentally cursed Kamatari for getting her a shirt with such a low V-neck.  There was a tickling sensation as the humidity and heat of his exhalations caused her skin to awaken with a new sensitivity.  Kaoru blushed and would have pulled away, but his hands snaked around her waist and held her there.

Then he was serious again.  "I meant what I said.  None of this is your fault."

And the world came flooding back.  "I know that in my mind, but I can't help the way I feel," she admitted, her bubble of elation bursting like the body of a caterpillar underneath the rubber wheels of a child's bicycle.  Ugh.  She didn't like that particular analogy.  "Her life is going to be taken because of me.  You can't kill her, Ken.  It'll stay on my conscience forever."

Ken's eyes grew hard and he let her go, sitting up.  "I have to.  Even if it wasn't her life for yours, this will be another debt the Juppongatana have to me.  Their leader knew as well as I that no penance was needed because you didn't inform them of your arrival.  That was a load of bull, but I granted his request.  Now he will have to use his sources to help me find the dark one."

Kaoru found her cheeks growing red again, but not from embarrassment.  "What do you have to live for besides revenge then?  When you do find the dark one, you won't be killing from a sense of duty, it'll be because you want to.  You'll have turned into the murderer you feared becoming," she informed him icily.

"Revenge for Sano and his team's death isn't all of it.  I'll kill it for all the rest of the vampires and humans the dark one will ruin the longer it remains in this world."  His voice was intense, piercing to the heart of her anger and fueling it to new heights.

"Then maybe it's time you told me just what the dark one has done in the past to warrant its death," she said, trying to keep her voice down so the neighbors didn't wake up.  "Why are all the vampires so wary of it and why did Sano try to kill it in the first place?  I'm sure I would feel different about the whole thing if you would just tell me, Ken!"

"I am not going to submit to the demands of a human who's not even two decades old," he informed her.

"I am twenty years old, for your information, and I don't appreciate your patronizing tone, Kenshin Himura."

          "You're not going to get any information out of me, even if you are two decades old.  I've been on this earth for over two hundred years and I think I damn well know when and when not to give out information."  His words were harsh and angry, but his tone was cold.  He was annoyed with her and determined not to tell he anything until she'd stewed in her own fury for a while, if he ever told her.

          Kaoru knew then that he wasn't going to give an inch.  His eyes had flashed amber in an instant and his gaze was icy.  She narrowed her eyes and stared him down, wondering how'd she'd gone from passionate kisses a minute ago to such bristling resentment against this man.

          "I can't believe you're being so frustrating!" she bit out, finally giving up the icy silence attempt.

          He didn't bother to reply.  She'd known it wasn't going to work anyway, but it had been worth a try.  She watched silently as he stood with a grace she only dreamed of possessing and disappeared into the gloom of the bedroom, the only room in the apartment that was totally free of light in the day.  In a few seconds he reappeared with a blanket and tossed it in her direction.  It landed on the couch next to her.  Looking up from the blanket, she met his eyes.

          "Dawn is in a few minutes.  I assume you're sleeping on the couch again."

          Damn right.  Kaoru thought, but knew better than to say out loud.  As if she'd sleep in the same room with such an egotistical, secretive, emotionless, pompous, inconsiderate jerk who didn't know how to treat a woman right.  She didn't bother to reply and wasn't surprised when he simply turned and shut the door soundlessly behind him.  If only she could call him those words.  If they were true life would be whole lot easier.  She would never have fallen in love with him.

_You know, I think my favorite flower is a dianthus._

_Didn't know you had one._

_It was Megumi's._

Sou strove to clear his mind.  As a child he'd been scared to death of airplane rides, and with all the pressure on him building up, that fear was threatening to flood back in full force.  The two men his uncle had shown up with had promised to tell him all the information they knew from their meeting with Kaoru and the vampire she was with once they'd settled into the plane ride and the surrounding passengers were asleep.  Sou was impressed that his uncle had the gall to book first class tickets when there was no doubt the police were looking for him that very moment.  But from what he'd remembered about his uncle from his youth, he shouldn't have been surprised or impressed.  Shishio Makoto didn't operate that way, not for glory, not for a high place in others' esteem.  He was his own man, only working for himself.  Sou wondered how finding Kaoru would benefit Shishio.  

As long as it would also benefit Kaoru, Sou had no problem with his uncle using him.  As long as Kaoru wasn't hurt.  As much as his uncle scared him and brought out the reckless side of himself, if he hurt Kaoru, Sou vowed he would have no qualms in taking him down.  After all, though his uncle had inspired the taste for the old art of the sword in him, Sou had carried it much farther than Shishio had intended.  It would be best to keep that a secret.  It wasn't as if he would be fighting with a wakisashi or a katana anyway.  Unless LA was a lot weirder than he thought.

"You awake, kid?"  The white haired man's harsh voice asked in a casual tone, swirling into thoughts and dissolving them like sugar in hot tea.

Sou realized his eyes were still closed.  At least the interruption had cleared his mind, and the man's voice had reminded him of just where he was and what company he has in.  His uncle had never tolerated any sign of weakness, and he doubted these men did either.  If he showed the slightest sign of hesitation, of uncertainty, he would lose what little respect they had for him and when the time to save Kaoru came he would fail.

Sou forced himself not to jerk in surprise at the man's words, but kept his eyes calmly closed, only grunting as an answer.

"For the wronged boyfriend, you sure seem pretty calm about the whole situation."

Sou could hear the amusement in the man's tone.  "No one said I was wronged.  I have faith in Kaoru."

"Give me your cell phone, kid," Shishio's harsh voice ordered.  Sou lost no time wondering at the request and merely reached in his pants pocket and held the phone behind him.  He felt his uncle take the phone and then heard him move away.

"And in your uncle?"  the man asked.

This time, Sou could hear the smirk in his voice.  "I know he will find her."

His reply was greeted by silence.  Then the voice of the other man with the silver hair and silver eyes sounded.  "Kid, you're right that Shishio will find your woman, through this vampire.  What we haven't told you is that we, Enishi and I, want the vampire.  So we're finding our guy through your girl.  We'll all work together."

"I'm not a simpleton.  I knew that," Sou said quietly, opening his eyes to narrow slits and twisting in his seat to face the man.  "And who are you two anyway?"

"As hard as it may be to believe, we're vampire hunters," the first man said.  "Jin-e is paying me to kill the vampire the Kamiya girl is with.  We had a run in with them in Pennsylvania last week, but they split town.  Thanks to you, we now know they're in LA."

"Just don't get in the way of us and him, and we'll be fine.  Got it, kid?"  Jin-e said.

"Shut up, Jin-e.  Have a little respect.  He's an okay kid."  The younger man looked him over once more.  "Enishi.  I suppose it was a bit hectic back there.  We didn't have a proper intro."  He stuck out his hand.

Though he couldn't read the man's intentions because of his tinted glasses, Sou shook it without hesitation.  If he hadn't, that would be a sign of weakness.  "Seta Soujiro."

"Kuragosa Jin-e."  So the other one had decided to introduce himself after all, though he didn't bother holding out a hand.  He did nod however, and Sou was careful to incline his head deferentially in the same manner.

"How many vampires are there in LA?" Sou asked.

Jin-e didn't attempt to hold back the surprise from showing through on his face.  Enishi's countenance was impassive.  "A few thousand."

"Why are you after this one?"

A knowing smile crossed Enishi's face.  Sou knew he felt more secure now that he knew what direction Sou was taking.  "I was hired by Jin-e.  I'm the best of the hunters.  That's why I'm going to kill him.  I have no other reason."

Sou turned to Jin-e.  "Why then?"

"Family tradition.  Let's just say he's been around for a while.  He's been playing games with my family for too long, so I felt the need to hire a professional hunter and finally end it.  Revenge, Seta, for the atrocities he's committed."

The two men exchanged a glance that Sou found disconcerting.  

Before they could elaborate, Shishio came back over and handed Sou back his cell phone.  "I installed a tracking device so we'll know where she is when she calls you.  Don't lose this phone kid.  If it fell into the wrong hands they'd be able to trace it back to my laptop via the transmitter."

Sou nodded, not bothering to ask who 'they' were.  He was about to ask his uncle how he'd known Kaoru had said she would call him when the man turned away and went back to his seat.

Enishi spoke.  "Let's just hope we kill him in time to save your girl."

The matter was closed.

_Rif__ is not a word!_

_Yes it is.  It's a guitar pick or something._

_Rrrrr__.___

_Well __lima__ isn't a word either._

_Haven't you ever heard of a lima bean?_

_It's one word._

_Not it's not.___

_Yes it is._

_I am going to win this Scrabble game._

_Dream on._

Perhaps because of the stress of her kidnapping, Ken being blackmailed into killing, and their argument of the night, rather, morning before, Kaoru didn't wake from her slumber until six in the evening.  Or perhaps, she thought with a shudder, she was simply becoming more accustomed to living as a vampire.  In any case, she'd woken at six and not five, meaning that she'd missed calling Sou at five, as she told him.  He would probably be worried sick.  The last thing Kaoru wanted was him flying over from Japan to 'save' her like some night in shining armor.  She was confident that if any 'saving' need be done she and Ken could handle it between the two of them.  Kenshin, she reminded herself.  His name is Kenshin Himura, also known in some vampire circles as Battousai.  What a guy.  The jerk.

"Jerk," Kaoru groaned aloud, rolling off the couch, still groggy.  She felt weak from sleeping for twelve hours straight.  Food was definitely in order.  Sou could wait for ten minutes.  Pulling herself up into a sitting position with her arms on the couch, she sighed.  The couch.  If they'd had a fight, shouldn't the man be the one sleeping on the couch?  Just her luck that Ken, Kenshin, was a vampire and if he'd slept on the couch he would have been burned to a crisp or whatever happened to vampires when they were exposed to the sun.  Eh, it wouldn't hurt him to get a bit of a tan.  Kaoru scolded herself for thinking such vengeful thoughts, especially since she didn't mean any of them.  He was already tan enough any way.  She hauled herself up until she was standing, ignoring the shaking of her limbs, and headed for the small kitchen.  Cereal sounded real good at that moment.

Two bowls of Cracklin' Oat Bran, the best cereal in the world in Kaoru's opinion, later Kaoru walked back into the living room, an extra bounce in her step, and over to the end table.  Hadn't she left her cell phone in her purse.  Not that it was her cell.  It was Ken's, she reminded herself.  Hers was back at home.  She hadn't brought it with her to work that night, expecting to get a ride from Tae.  It was crappy next to the one Ken had loaned her in any case.  And yes, there it was in her purse.  Hmm. Sou should still be home.  She decided to call him at his grandparents' house rather than on his cell.  Perhaps his mother would answer and she could be sure that Sou wasn't going to do something crazy like come after her.  His mother could read him like a book.  She would know if he was acting even the slightest bit unusual.

Kaoru dialed the number Sou had given her before he left and waited for the operator.  Thank the Lord she had international service.  Well thankfully, Ken had the foresight to get an international service plan.  It was his phone after all, she reminded herself.  She also reminded herself his real name was Kenshin.  Not Ken.  Come to think of it, what if his real name wasn't even Kenshin?

"Moshi moshi," a female voice answered tensely.

It was Atsuko, Sou's sister.  She and Kaoru definitely didn't get along.  Oh well.  "Ohayo gozaimasu, Atsuko."  It was still morning in Japan after all.  "Kaoru, desu.  May I please speak with Sou?"

"Kaoru!" Atsuko yelled.  She sounded furious.  "This is all your fault!"

Kaoru immediately went on the defensive.  Atsuko knew better than to speak like that to her.  "What are you talking about?  I'm in the States.  What could I have possibly done to you?" she asked irritably.

Atsuko didn't reply.  A sound came over the line like a strangled sob.  Was she crying?  Kaoru strained to hear as the other woman muffled the phone for a few moments.  Maybe she was calling Sou to the phone.

When she came back on the line all the anger was gone from her voice, replaced with despair.  "Sou's gone, Kaoru."

Kaoru felt the strength seep from her.  Sou?  Dead?  How could it be?  A thousand questions flew through her mind.  When? How? Why?  She managed to make it over to the arm of the couch and sat down on the side.  "When did it happen?"

A few sniffles sounded over the line.  "Last night.  Uncle Shishio came and took him away to the States.  He doesn't care about Sou.  He'll let him die if it helps his position," Atsuko informed her, bitterness tingeing the sadness of her tone.

The words flooded through her head, washing away the despair.  He wasn't dead.  He wasn't dead.  Kaoru sighed in relief.  "I thought he was dead," she breathed into the phone, her tone holding wonder at the cruelties life could play against her.  For a few seconds much of her world had come crashing down around her.

"He's as good as dead!"  Atsuko yelled, the anger flooding back into her voice.  She seemed to have gained more control over her emotions.

Then the words that Atsuko had said penetrated Kaoru's consciousness.  Sou had left for the States last night in Japan.  That meant he was most likely already in LA!  But who was this uncle Shishio that Atsuko kept going on about?  Surely an uncle would take care of Sou.

"Why, Atsuko?  Won't his uncle take care of him?" Kaoru asked in confusion.

"No, you idiot!  He broke out of a mental hospital to take Sou to the States!  And he's only in there because he was declared a dangerous criminal.  It was there or prison!  He's only using Sou to get to that man you're with!"

Kaoru turned a whole new shade of pale.  After Ken?  "Why is he after Ken?"

"I don't know!" Atsuko wailed.  "But he came with two other men who were probably the low lifes who busted him out in the first place and he actually went with them!"  Atsuko sounded as if she couldn't believe it even now.

Kaoru wondered about these two other men.  There was no way they could have known about Ken being a vampire.  Maybe they still didn't know.  Were they perhaps vampires themselves?  No.  They would have had to arrive in LA in the daylight hours.  They couldn't be vampires.  They couldn't be the two hunters Ken had ditched in Pennsylvania, could they?

"What did these two look like?" Kaoru asked slowly.

"Why?" Atsuko asked.

"In case I see them around town.  Then I can find Sou through them," she told the other woman, trying to sound as innocent as possible.  Atsuko must not know that she needed this information.

"I won't tell you, Kaoru!" she yelled.  "Just call my brother and bring him back to Japan.  He has his cell phone.  He'll answer if you call," she ordered.

"Atsuko, give me the phone."  It was Mrs. Seta's voice in the background.  Kaoru thanked the Lord once more.  "Hello, Kaoru.  Both of the men were tall, I'd say a little over six feet each.  The first was around thirty-five.  He had both silver hair and eyes, a boyish haircut, a lock of hair fell into his eyes.  The second was younger, I'd say about twenty-four.  He wore round tinted glasses, pale spiked hair and dark eyes.  Will that help you?"

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Seta."  So it was the two hunters from Pennsylvania.  She might have known they would turn up again.  Perhaps if the Juppongatana were aware the hunters had entered their territory, then Ken wouldn't be at such a risk.

"I didn't like the look of them, Kaoru.  They were hunters.  I'm at a loss as to what Sou was thinking when he went with them.  He must love you very much," she finished softly.

Kaoru didn't bother to ask home Sou's mother knew of the vampire culture.   She was too focused on choking back a sob.  "I'm so sorry about this, Mrs. Seta.  I'm sorry your son is in danger."

"He's an adult, Kaoru.  He makes his own decisions.  I don't hold you accountable for them.  I know you would have rather he not come.  Be careful of my brother, Shishio Makoto.  He's around six feet as well, black hair, dark brown eyes, extremely tan still from his days in Egypt.  He doesn't mean to do right by you, Kaoru, and I don't think Sou could protect you from him.  He holds too much respect for the man, which is my mistake.  I should not have let him visit when Sou was a child."

"It's not your fault, Mrs. Seta.  I'm so sorry.  Give my regards to your husband.  I'll call Sou now."

"Don't Kaoru!  I'm sure his phone will be traced by now.  Don't call here again either.  My brother has too many connections.  The house will be bugged by then.  Don't let them find you, Kaoru.  Get back here to Japan or to your parents as soon as you can.  Get that vampire to protect you."

"I will."

"Promise me you'll go somewhere safe, Kaoru."  Her voice was urgent.

"I promise to as soon as I can.  But I don't know when that will be.  I can't leave LA right now."

"I think it would be best if you kept your parents out of this then.  Your father would disown you for disobeying him if you didn't leave LA," Mrs. Seat advised.

"I know," Kaoru said softly.  "Sayonara."

"Sayonara, Kaoru-chan."  Atsuko's sobbing filled the background.  A click in her ear and the connection was broken.  Sou was in LA, but she didn't dare call him.  And she would have to tell Ken the whole story.  She groaned.  This was not going to be fun.  He'd already been in an exceptionally bad mood the night before.  She doubted he would wake up with an improved outlook on life.

_Why does it always rain for funerals?_

_The heavens are weeping._

_Nah.__  Aren't you supposed to be happy when they pass on?_

_Yes.  It's bittersweet.  I wish I still could._

_Don't say that, Ken!  Morbid talk.  What would you do without me to keep you focused on this life?_

_…_

_Well?_

_I don't know, Sano._

"Wouldn't it have been cheaper to stay in an apartment instead of a hotel?" Sou asked, dropping his luggage on the floor next to the bed his uncle had told him he would be sleeping in.

"I don't think any of us are going to clean or cook.  Besides, I haven't been out in the world in years, Soujiro.  I have the money.  I'm going to spend it.  Don't complain.  Order us some room service while I go next door to plan our strategy with those two," Shishio ordered, leaving through the adjoining doors that connected the two rooms they had checked out for two weeks.

Sou wondered where his uncle had acquired his seemingly endless supply of cash.  He decided he wasn't too keen on finding out.  Besides, he was too worried by the fact that Kaoru hadn't called him.  He had hoped to pick her up in the daylight hours before the vampire, 'Ken', woke to find her gone, but night was fast approaching.  It was going to be hard living with his uncle and the two hunters.  Sou wondered if they were anything like the two Kaoru had mentioned who had gotten her into this whole mess.  They seemed trustworthy enough to help him find Kaoru, a little too dedicated to their jobs, but that could be overlooked.  Nevertheless, they would find Kaoru, if only to kill this Ken person.  Sou was getting more and more curious.  He was confident that it would only be a matter of time before he met the vampire face to face.  Perhaps many of the questions building in his mind would be answered then.  Why did Kaoru trusted him?  Why she had insisted on staying with him to Sou over the phone?  He only hoped the vampire was ensuring Kaoru's safety.

With a sigh he dialed room service.  Something important must have come up if Kaoru had not called.  She never broke her promises.

**A/N – Well here you go.  Hope you love it.  Leave a review if you feel like inflating my ego.  Just kidding.  Actually just leave one to tell me what you thought of it.  Thanks a bunch.  I really appreciate reviews.  I'm on that everlasting quest to be a better writer.  Oh, and 'Haha' is what you call your own mother in Japanese.**


	10. Earthquake

**A/N – So sorry.**** My second semester of college has been passing so fast that it's taken me a LOT longer than normal to turn out this story.  Plus I think I had a little trouble getting past a few scenes.  I hope you guys still like this chapter though.  I'm feeling the need for a bit more action, but this'll have to do until the next chapter.  Thanks to all the reviewers who emailed me and pushed me to turn this chapter out faster!  And thanks to you all who also did it the old fashioned way and reviewed!  Love ya lots.**

**JML, Angel81, Koishii Sweet, EEevee, Iram, Rinfirithiel, Black Chiney, Sagitarious Devil, Fanfiction Wanderer, aglaia102, MZ.**** AMber EYES, Hitokiri-miao miao, stoictimer, Naiya-chan, SkyDancerHawk, Kyia Star, SpaceVixon, marstanuki, Poppy2, Saiya Winters, aNiMePeRfEcT, Silver Eyes Bright, WILD FIRE, pretty Luthien, samurai-swords-maid, Mishorou Mie, Kenshin's Demon, Videl621, Leah Durose, gestoordeann, angelwings1**

**Disclaimer – I'm tired of making witty disclaimers.  I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, okay?**

****

**Silver Cross**

**Chapter 10 - Earthquake**

_Ahhh-chooo__!_

_            Bless you._

_            You'd think vampires didn't get colds._

          The soothing lullaby of his mother's voice beckoned him from sleep, fading away as he felt his awareness float up to consciousness.  The sun was setting painfully slow as always.  If only he could tear himself from the imprisonment his mind had made since the first and last time he had ventured into the sun as a vampire.  Now his sub consciousness protected him from the harmful rays of the day.  He would not be able to move until the sun had completely set.  He could only breathe in the air of the black bedroom shallowly, as his pulse began to increase achingly slow beat by beat.  He searched with his senses for other vampire ki, but of course he felt none.  Saitou was not likely to arrive for another hour or two, when Myoujin forced him.  There was no love lost in his relationship with that man.

          There was Kaoru.  She was close, probably sitting on the couch.  As his senses returned to him, he could hear the faint sounds of the television.  Through their blood connection, he could feel her ki hovering at a normal, relaxed level.  Her heart beat was slow and steady.  She was calm, serene.  He focused on the rush of blood flowing through her veins that he could almost hear in the back of his head, depending on the heady feeling she gave him to bring his self back to consciousness sooner than he would have without her.  Suddenly, the waters of his mind turned to quicksand and he was no longer floating on the surface of consciousness.  The sand threatened to drag him back down to his dreamland, no doubt his body fighting his mind.  And then his head was under the sand and he was having trouble breathing.  His senses were fading away again, but he could still hear the harsh gasping of breath struggling to permeate his lungs.  Ken fought on.  He would conquer his own body.  Kaoru was giving him the will to stay awake, to stay aware.  Just the thought of her and his mind was flickering in existence between the lightweight buoyancy of water and the heavy weight of the quicksand.  He knew that if he could find the strength hidden somewhere deep, the reservoir of hope, he could wake up fully before the sunset.  But Kaoru moved farther away in the apartment and his tenuous grip on her ki was broken.  The strain was too great.  He was not going to win the war this night.  He couldn't breathe.  His consciousness was buried in the sand.

          Kaoru was screaming his name.  The world was shaking underneath him.  Ken skyrocketed into consciousness.  A shuddering breath rocked through his body.  Night had fallen.  The sun had set without him once again.  Sweat was pouring down his body, no doubt a side effect of his lost fight against his body to become fully aware before the sun completely set.  Ken was confident that given a few more nights, he would gain progress and ultimately win the war against his mind.  His new goal was to wake before the sun set.  In the meantime, he pushed himself up on his elbows slowly, feeling the strength of the night flooding back through his body.  

Kaoru was no longer screaming, but the world was still shaking.  Ken doubted anything was wrong with her.  She'd probably never experienced one of the minor earthquakes native to the area.  Or perhaps some furniture had fallen or something.  The world stilled its trembling as the last of his strength coursed through him.  Ken rose swiftly from the bed and drew the door open in one motion, surveying the apartment.  A few books and magazines had fallen off tables and the TV and a chair was turned over, but otherwise, the apartment was as it had been the night before.  Kaoru was not in evidence.  He sensed her in the dining room that doubled as the kitchen and lost no time in seeking her out.

She was crouched underneath the dining room table, a grown woman taking refuge under a piece of furniture kids often used for play forts.  The situation would have been funny had she not been staring with wide eyes at a knife embedded directly in front of her in the linoleum of the floor.  From the looks of the scene, she had been making her self a sandwich, using the bread knife with its serrated edges to cut a roll, when the earthquake had occurred.  He wondered how long he'd been unconscious then if she'd had time to almost finish preparing a sandwich by the time he woke from his lost battle with his subconscious.  She must have set the knife down on the counter in surprise when she'd felt the first tremors of the quake.  Some elementary school training had no doubt sent her underneath the table.  The knife must have fallen down right in front of her at some point, causing her to scream.  And that was what had woken him up from his sleep.  His sleep in which he had no longer been breathing.

Finally becoming aware of his presence, she drew her gaze away from the bread knife and up to his eyes.  He saw the last vestiges of panic fading away, although her heart was still racing.  "I-I was just making a sandwich when-when…"  Her eyes went back to the knife.

She was obviously still shaken.  Suddenly Ken was angry.  Fear had driven her to cower underneath the table like some animal.  Didn't she know how angry that was making him at Nature that had caused this fear in her soul?  She shouldn't have to be wary of anything.  And the very idea of a kitchen knife, a bread knife almost landing on her hand!

"Get out from under there," he seethed.

Kaoru ignored his command and kept her eyes on the knife, spellbound as Ken walked forward and bent down in front of her.  He placed a hand on the hilt of the knife.  "Get out," he practically hissed, yanking the knife up in one violent, fluent motion.  Kaoru was startled from her daze and lost no time in scrambling out from under the table, standing with her back against the table and keeping a wary eye on his back as he replaced the knife in the rack.  He turned around and met her eyes.  His steely expression turned to shock and then pain.  How had he managed to hurt her yet again, in less than five minutes?  Wordlessly, he came forward and swept her body against his in a tight embrace.  At first she tensed, but then she relaxed against him and slid her arms around him in a loose hug, saying nothing for a long moment, letting him hold her.

"You scare me sometimes."  She spoke quietly, her tone half admonishing, half filled with another emotion he couldn't discern because he couldn't see her eyes.  He pulled back and held her at arms length, seeking her gaze, but her eyes were downcast, to the ground.  Something else was troubling her.

"What is it?" he asked harshly, knowing he would not like the news that was going to come from her mouth.  Something must have happened during the day.

She withdrew her arms from around him at his tone.  He felt the loss acutely.  "Yesterday I called Sou to reassure him that I was okay so he wouldn't alert my parents."  She stopped.

So far nothing sounded amiss.  "Go on," he prompted, still holding her arms.

She looked up at him.  "I wanted someone to confide in, so I told him where I was.  I told him about you."  Her voice had trailed off to a whisper and she looked down at the ground once again.

Ken was pissed that she'd blabbered her whereabouts, but at least it had been to a human with likely no connections to the vampire world.  He kept his grip on her upper arms light and remained silent.  She looked up and met his gaze once again.  Kaoru had more to tell.

"His uncle in Japan is a vampire hunter.  Sou told him what I'd said.  He's here in LA with Sou and the two hunters from Pennsylvania."

It had obviously cost Kaoru great courage to say all that steadily to his face.  Still, he couldn't help but swear.  He dismissed the woman before him and thought about this new complication in his life.  A not so simple mission to kill the dark one had changed to one where his objective was to kill Tomoe Yukishiro, deal with Hajime Saitou, avoid three hunters and a jealous boyfriend, and somehow kill the dark one in the middle of all the chaos.  He should never have brought Kaoru with him.  Damn her for dragging him into this mess.

"Ken?  Ken please let go."

He didn't know how long she had been pleading with him to release her, but his grip on her arms must have been growing painful from the note of suppressed urgency in her voice.  Turning his coldest glare on her, he released her arms and watched as she shrank back against the table.  They were both breathing hard.  He glanced down at the faint bruises blotching her fair skin, then back into her eyes.

"How do you know they're here?"

"I-I called Japan because I promised Sou I would call today and I got his mother and sister on the phone.  They told me his uncle had come for him with those two hunters.  He left with them to catch a plane to LA," Kaoru explained, emotional pain evident in the timbers of her voice.

"Who is his uncle?"  Ken asked, ignoring her struggle for composure.

"Um," Kaoru stalled, willing the name to come to her brain.  "I remember Sou mentioning him at one point…"

"Kaoru."

The tone in which he'd said her name made her shiver.  "Makoto Shishio!  That was it."  Kaoru was relieved she'd remembered.

"And what's your boyfriend's full name?"

"Soujiro Seta," she answered miserably.

"Go in the bedroom and get dressed while I call the Juppongatana," Ken ordered.  "Wear a bathing suit underneath your clothes.  We may be headed to the beach."

Kaoru nodded and rushed past him and out the door.  That had gone horribly.  She didn't even care about that appalling suit Kamatari had made her buy, well made Ken buy.  It felt as if every bond she had managed to form with Ken had been broken.  It had been bad enough that Ken was blackmailed into killing the Yukishiro woman because of her; at least that had been inadvertent on her part.  But this fiasco was entirely her responsibility, and it could get Ken killed.  She just couldn't keep a secret.  Looking back on her misguided phone call to Sou, she should have simply lied to him and told him that yes, she was with her parents, or at least a family friend.  Ken's story was not hers to tell.  Now she had betrayed his trust.  It had been so long since Ken had confided in anyone, that she didn't dare hope he would forgive her anytime soon.  In fact, for a moment there it had seemed as if he'd forgotten about her completely.  She'd been afraid he would hurt her.  She'd been staring into his eyes in horror and it had looked as if the swirls of amber that swam in the violet depths had almost taken over.  What did that mean?  Was she close to driving Ken over the edge with her dumb behavior?

Kaoru dressed quickly.  Who could have known Kamatari would be right to make her buy that suit?  She hesitantly made her way back to the kitchen, reasoning that Ken would be even more pissed if she left him to clean up the ingredients of her forgotten sandwich.  Ken was just flipping his cell phone closed when she entered through the doorway.  She picked up the loaf of wheat bread from where it had fallen and retrieved the turkey slices from where they had slid across the counter.  She could feel his stare burning through her with every move she made.  After placing the meat in the refrigerator, she decided she couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"It was a dumb thing to do."

"Damn right it was."  His words bit at the tail end of her sentence.

Kaoru winced.  "I've learned my lesson.  I'm sorry."

"I don't think you have.  Do you know what you did?  You brought two of the most powerful and successful vampire hunters to LA: the town most heavily populated with both vampires and contacts.  These men won't stop until they find us.  This very moment they're probably filling your jealous little boyfriend's head with hate against the vampire race, so pretty soon, he'll be just like them.  And then when we inevitably run into them, it'll come down to me or him.  I don't mean who wins.  Either they will all die, or I will.  And I am not about to die before I kill the dark one.  By making that call and telling him what you did, you just condemned him never to live out his life as an ordinary human again.  As soon as one vampire who is not a member of the Juppongatana sees him with those hunters, they'll spread the word that there are four hunters in the city, and hunters are fair game, not like regular humans.  You just had to drag him down too didn't you?  Couldn't handle it alone, could you?"

Kaoru blinked tears from her eyes as she stood and let the force of Ken's anger and frustration wash over her.  His controlled tone conveyed much more emotion than shouts and frustration would have.  He was telling her the facts.  And now she had another life resting on her shoulders.  If Sou died, then it would all be because of her.  Her fault and hers alone.  She stared down at the hand that still rested on the refrigerator handle.  There was nothing she could say to that.  Nothing she could deny.  Ken had no reason to lie to her.  Sou would not last long once the vampires started hunting him.  She could only hope that his uncle was skilled enough to protect the both of them and that he cared enough to want to protect both his nephew.  Even so, how would four humans last against a city of vampires?

A series of heavy knocks rapped on the door in the living room.  It was the landlord, Mr. Rodriguez calling out to ask if they were alright.

"Get yourself together," Ken ordered before moving away to answer the door.  Kaoru noticed that he put special emphasis on his footsteps.  She could plainly hear them.  Usually his tread was as light as the rustle of cloth against skin, and even quieter if that was possible.  Then Ken must have opened the door because she could hear the murmur of their voices, the deep Spanish lisps of the landlord, complimented by the slightly higher but rougher tone of Ken's.  She knew both Ken and the landlord would be expecting her to make an appearance; it was custom after all.  

How much easier it was to think only about propriety and manners than why she was masquerading as a married woman, why she had to hold herself together.  She could only be thankful that Ken's diatribe and not reduced her to tears.  The strength of her willpower must have increased.  At the beginning of the summer she could imagine herself not cracking under the stress that was upon her.  But all that was behind her.  The important thing was focusing on the now and moving ever forward.  And forward meant into the living room.  She took her hand from where it still rested on the refrigerator handle.  The Lord would help her get through this.  She did not need physical support.  She pasted what she hoped was a polite smile on her face and quickened her steps through the doorway and into the kitchen.

Ken evaluated the landlord's expression as he saw the man's gaze travel from his face to a point behind him and felt Kaoru's tread enter the living room from the kitchen.  Nothing showed but normal interest.  There were no signs of concern after he initially saw that Kaoru was unharmed.  Ken allowed himself to release the small breath he'd been holding.  Kaoru could pull this off.  He turned an empty smile to her as he probed her face for signs of breaking.  He saw nothing but strength and determination hidden behind the careful expression written on her face.  She had allowed a little worry to come through and for that he applauded her.  It was, after all, her first earthquake as far as he knew.

"Mrs. Sato!  Your husband tells me you were a little disturbed by the tremor.  It was a little higher on the Richter scale than normal.  Is everything in the apartment still functioning alright?"

"Just fine as far as I know.  I was just looking over the kitchen.  Thanks for coming all the way up here to inquire though," Kaoru said, coming to stand beside Ken and taking hold of his hand.

"Don't thank me.  It's all part of the job description.  Glad everything's okay.  Now I'd say you just got a more intimate taste of life in California."

They all laughed politely.

"Well I have to go and check on the other tenants.  I don't want to take up too much of your time at any rate."

"We enjoy having you.  Thanks again for coming," Kaoru said, releasing Ken's hand and moving to open the door for him.

"No problem.  And I'd have to say I'm with you on the Clippers issue, Sato," the landlord said back to Ken as he followed Kaoru to the door.

"I knew you'd see it my way."

Mr. Rodriguez merely laughed as he exited the room.  "See you both around."

Kaoru turned around, almost expecting the same neutral and attentive expression to have remained on his face, that same empty smile.  Almost.  But his expression was cold.  He was pushing her away.  He _had_ pushed her away, almost completely.  

She supposed she deserved it.  Calling Sou without consulting Ken had only added to their complications, but beating herself up about it was not going to do anything.  Allowing Ken to beat her up about it wasn't doing anything either.  If she couldn't call Sou, she would just have to seek him out before the vampire culture mistook him for a hunter and condemned him along with the men whom he was traveling.  The problem with that reasoning was of course that she doubted she could find Sou without Ken's help and influence and he obviously was not going to contribute anything to that particular endeavor.  Well then she would just have to watch and wait for the opportunity to get Ken to help her save Sou, even if it meant employing a few manipulation tactics, as if that was going to be easy, with the way Ken was looking at her.

Yes, she supposed she deserved it.  But Sou didn't deserve it.  Ken didn't deserve it.  If he pushed her away completely now, she doubted he'd ever come out from the shell in which he'd encased himself since he had become a vampire.  From what Kaoru had gathered, Sano's presence had worn away some of the layers of emotional defense that suffocated Ken, allowing her to dissolve the rest.  But now those layers were starting to harden once more, forming the basis of a wall that would take centuries to crumble.  And Kaoru did not have centuries.  She only had today.

They stared, she at the wall he'd erected.  Kaoru didn't know if Ken was challenging her or simply observing her observation of him.  She broke the silence.

"If you wanted me to leave, I would," she stated clearly.

The vibrations of her voice carried through the air to his ears and penetrated his soul.  He could not accept that.  She was trying something.  It had been a mistake to let down his guard around her in the first place.  He couldn't read her as well as he could other people.  Still, he was lying.  If she left LA, she would die.  "No.  You value your own life too much."

"If you wanted me to leave, I would," she stated again in the same tone.

From tip to toe, from top to bottom, she was utterly completely wholly entirely frustrating.  "Then go."  The words grated from his mouth in long cadences, as if his body was in betrayal of his mind when he told her to leave, when he told her to go and die, and see if he cared, see that he didn't care.

Instead, she took a step towards him.  He was relieved.  He was livid.  He was exultant.  He was furious.  But she was there.

"I know you don't want me to leave.  Just admit it to yourself.  Let me come back to you."

She was drawing him in again.  He somehow knew that if he succumbed, this would be the final time, the last few seconds of time that he was apart from the world.  It had gotten harder and harder to maintain the distance between them.  When he'd kissed her last night he had felt the barriers he'd erected so painstakingly during his whole life as a vampire tremble and shudder under the impact she was had on him.  If he went to her, she would be his.  Kaoru would give him her soul.  Perhaps she already had.  She was already speaking of her young boyfriend as a duty, as a friend to be protected.  Ken supposed his problem was that she herself was so young and naive in years, so utterly unlike him, that it caused an ache in a place he could not name.  His soul?  It had been so long since he'd felt he had a soul.  If he pushed her away, sent her from him, then his soul would never ache in this manner again.  That was a deliciously appealing prospect.  But she would break, and he could never stand to see her broken.  If Kaoru broke, he would shatter.

"I can't."  He couldn't manage more words without showing emotion and conveying to Kaoru that he didn't mean what he was saying.  He couldn't let her know.  It would be better for him if he wasn't tied down by her limits wherever he went, better for her if she lived in a safer environment, one where her life wasn't under constant threat, where her strength was equal to that of the people she had to contend with.  In this society, she was outnumbered and weak.  It was inevitable: she would be killed or turned.

As he watched her face for signs that she was breaking, cracking, rending apart, he saw none.  He had severely misjudged her, underestimated her, and by doing that, he had let her down.  He'd turned her away, but he could see already that someday soon she would get over it.  She would get over him.  But he could never get over her.  What was broken could be fixed, but when glass shattered, even if it was somehow glued back together by the mortar of time, it was never the same vase or glass or statue.  And why were either of them forced to shatter in the first place, he thought, suddenly rebellious of the world?  All of a sudden his need to touch her was so intense that he could feel his barriers start to erode, and emotion invade his expression.

"Why?" she asked, her tone heavy with sorrow, though she tried to conceal it.  She had almost given up, then.

Ken wondered why he had been angry at her.  Now his rage was focused entirely at himself, the Juppongatana, Myojin, Saitou, everything and everyone but her.  A peculiar feeling invaded the back of his throat, a pulling that tugged on his conscience, made him desperately want to confess to her that he loved her, and yet choked him into silence.

"You might get hurt."

She scoffed and anger flared in her eyes, darkening them to midnight blue.  "I might die in a car crash on the way to the airport if you send me away.  My plane might go down.  Someone might botch a robbery at the Akabeko and shoot me.  There are a lot of ways I might get hurt."  The sarcasm in her voice was thick and heavy.  "I admit there's an added risk by my association with you, but it's also reducing some of the risk.  I doubt you'd let me die in a car crash or get shot by some random human.  It's a risk that's no risk compared to what it would be like if I left.  I know you don't want me to.  Do you know how much it's costing me to say this?  But it's worth it, for you," she finished heatedly, looking like she wanted to say more, but refraining.

He strove to maintain control.

"Are you still mad at me, then?" she asked.  "I won't ever do something that dumb again, I promise." She felt suddenly wretched, her emotional high plummeting into a kamikaze dive when he didn't respond to even the slightest degree.  But she couldn't let him detect that desperation.  He would regard it as weak, and she knew Ken admired her most in the moments where she exhibited strength.

"I'm not angry at you," he snapped.

His tone contradicted his words.  He was dangerous now, wired with tension, his eyes strikingly fearsome amber clouds.  Did she want this caged creature, this man with no ties to the world, who drifted from place to place, town to town like a dandelion seed caught in an updraft?  He was wild when agitated, and as with a stray dog, one's instinct forbade drawing too close.  He looked as if he was barely restraining himself from lashing out at something, anything within his reach.

Kaoru knew then that she wanted him to the clichéd state of 'always and forever', even if 'always and forever' didn't last through the end of the week for them.  She forced herself to draw closer to him, feeling nausea in the pit of her stomach.  There in his eyes was also death, and her body made her natural aversion to that death known to her mind.

Time stretched for millennia as she drew close to him until she stood with a slight tremor directly in front of him.  She forced her chin up to establish eye contact.  His restlessness was unsettling as he watched her warily.  Lifting and brushing aside the weight of doubt, fear, confusion, and loneliness along with her arm, she brought her right hand up to touch his cheek gingerly.  He didn't flinch, simply gazed down at her, not comprehending, with those tawny eyes.  She took back the stray-dog-ready-to-bite analogy and replaced it with a feral cat.  It suited him.  She could better compare her fear of this moment to that of a lion than a dog.  She traced her finger down his cheek as he remained still, letting her touch him.  She knew there were questions in her eyes, but he didn't bother to comprehend then, much less answer them, too preoccupied with holding onto his self, it seemed.  How she longed for him to snap out of this haze and into his self once more, and enfold her in an embrace that would send electric signals up to her brain that tingled across her whole body.  But he was immobile, still and silent.  Almost unintentionally, she tilted his head slightly, hers as well, and stood on her toes.  A last kiss then.  She knew this action could send him off the edge into whatever abyss at which he was toddling on the brink, not good, or bring him back.

So she kissed him, because she couldn't leave him on that edge, to eventually lose his balance and fall in, and because she needed him.  No doubt from the death that shown in his gaze she would face the consequences if this was the wrong decision, but she knew she could not live knowing he was out there somewhere and that she had given him up.

So she kissed him.  She closed her eyes and pressed slightly open lips to his. She needn't have worried that he would still fall into the chasm even when she tried to rescue him after all.  He opened his mouth to her immediately as if all he'd needed was this contact.  His tongue invaded her mouth, invoking new sensations, before retreating, leaving behind a sense of profound loss.  She knew he was inviting her in, so she came and he let her guide the dance with her hand still touching his face, but now it was cupping his chin gently so she could guide his tongue.  Their bodies weren't touching, but she didn't notice until he wrapped an arm around her almost too tightly and she was pressed against his legs and his chest.  He grew impatient and she relinquished her control as he pillaged her mouth until her breaths grew frantic and she was suffocating from his kisses, but she couldn't find the strength to break away.  His other hand was at the back of her neck, holding her to him.  Her tongue touched the tip of a fang and he hissed sharply in pain, drawing back and allowing her to gulp in a few breaths.

"What's wrong?" she managed to ask through her rapid fire breathing.

"It hurts."

Kaoru would have felt as if she was talking to a three year old if it wasn't for the intensity in which he'd said those words, or what he had just done to her.

"I can never have enough of you.  It hurts," he stated simply, still not all himself again.

Kaoru smiled into his eyes, watching as the amber that dominated his eyes slowly faded until they settled into a mesmerizing swirl of violet and amber.  "I guess this means you don't want me to go."

"No.  You're mine," he stated flatly.  "And I am yours."  He touched his tongue to the tip of her nose briefly, lightly.

"So we've established property rights then," Kaoru said, attempting a nonchalant attitude, feeling the need to slow down the pace.  What were they careening towards at this rate?  She had serious doubts that she was ready to find out.

He did not take to her attempt to lighten the mood.  "What about Sou?"  He was determined that she should be his and no one else's.  The boy was constantly getting in the way.

"What about him?" she asked, a little defensively.

"What are you going to do about him?"

Kaoru saw his meaning now.  "I don't think this is the time to tell him, if I could even find him," Kaoru said, a bit exasperated.  Did he have to change the topic to such a troubled subject?  The warm feeling of satisfaction was fast fading with Ken's words.

"Do you love him?" he asked, curious.

Kaoru bit her lip lightly for a second, thinking.  She forced herself not to look away from Ken's eyes.  He had to know that she meant what she was going to say.  "I thought I did, but not anymore.  This is more than what I felt for him."

"This?"  He was determined to make her say it.  If she didn't verify it for herself, he could never be sure she had pushed the boy away in her heart and truly felt only for him.

Did he have to make her spell it out for him?  It was so embarrassing.  "Us," she said deciding to keep it simple.

"Oh."  Ken hadn't thought she could sum it up with a simple word, but Kaoru had surprised him again.

And then he replied with something like 'oh'!  Of all the stupidest, most meaningless words to say, he had to say 'oh'.  Kaoru sighed inwardly, well at the least, it wasn't as bad as 'um'.

"If you don't tell him, I will," Ken informed her simply.  He couldn't let her clarity throw him off the point he was trying to prove.  

"Why?" she asked, angrily, trying to push away from him, but he only held her loosely in his embrace.

"It's fair.  Don't try to shield his emotions.  It'll only hurt him more."

"If he lives to be hurt!  I'd rather not tell him until after this is over.  If I don't make it, then at least he will live on happier, believing I loved him."

Ken was taken aback.  She couldn't really think he would let anything happen to her to prevent her from living, could she?  He would die a thousand times before he'd let her soul fade away to that other world.  "You won't die any time soon," he promised simply.

Kaoru let her eyes stray down from his eyes to the collar of his shirt.  That was much easier to look at then the intense gaze of his eyes.  "Only if you're there," she informed him softly.  "I'll tell him then.  But how do you expect me to?"  Already, the guilt was settling in.  Sou would be hurt, so hurt by this.  And she wouldn't even be able to provide him with an explanation as to why she was leaving him.  They were comfortable with each other, had fallen into a routine of love, of living with one another.  The fact that each one loved the other had gone without saying.  She still loved Sou, but that love paled in comparison with what she felt when she was with Ken.  Was it wrong to like one person more than another?  And to think that she was insulting Sou even more by dumping him for another man.  Would he ever forgive her?  Ever talk to her again?  Ever look at her without betrayal showing in his eyes?  But all that was worth Ken, because when she thought only of him, the world was new and good and she couldn't imagine her existence without him now that they'd met.

"After Saitou arrives, we'll be heading to a teahouse before the beach.  We'll detour to a payphone in the middle of town and you can call him then.  Keep it brief, only one minute tops."

Kaoru swallowed nervously.  This was not something she was looking forward to.  She mentally asked the Lord for a reservoir of strength before looking back up into Ken's eyes.  Here was her strength.  The Lord had pulled them together.  He had given her this person to care for and watch over.  She didn't have much of choice in the matter.  What kind of person would she be if she continued to string Sou along as if things were okay, as if they were still the same?  Even if she hated Ken, things wouldn't have been the same.  This experience had changed her radically.  She could never go back to the person she was a few weeks ago, naïve and oblivious of the depth of the world around her, secure in a world where nothing was more dangerous or heart-stopping than failing an exam or being late for work.

"I'll do it."  She promised herself that she wasn't doing this to curb Ken's jealousy, for surely that was what it must be.  No, this was for Sou.  And suddenly, irrationally, she almost resented Ken for putting her in this situation.  If only he didn't force her to love him and put him above other people.  If only she wasn't attracted to him, or he wasn't attracted to her.  Things would be so much simpler.  But she was, and she wasn't going to deny that fact.  She'd be miserable without him.  No doubt he would be just as miserable without her, although he was loath to admit it.  That was something they were going to have to work on, the pushing away when he needed her, or when it worked to his advantage.  Ken's solitary nature did not work in favor of a lasting relationship, and this relationship had damn well better be lasting, with everything it was costing both of them.  Her heart tightened just thinking of the way Ken had looked when he'd been toddling on the brink of sanity then.  How had she been able to bring him back?  What if it happened again when she wasn't around?  Who would bring him back then?  She wondered what was going on behind those eyes as he stared down at her, demanding something more.  Had he seen the resentment flicker through her eyes just then?  What if he hadn't understood that it was not for him anymore, but for the world in general?

The 'Mission Impossible' ring tone invaded the tension in the room.  Ken's cell phone was ringing.  He reluctantly released her and reached into his pocket, drawing out the phone.

"Hello."

None of the pleasantries intoned when a person answered the phone were evident in his voice.

There was silence in the apartment while Ken listened to whoever was on the other line.  Kaoru could hear nothing but her breathing, still slightly heavy from the kisses they'd shared.

"How did you get this number?"  

Ken's tone was not pleased.  Kaoru wondered who the person on the other end of the line was.  Stilling her breaths, she faintly heard the loud tones of the male on the other end of the line.

"Battousai, if you don't get your sorry ass down here in the next five minutes-"

"Are you threatening me?"  Ken's voice, a deeper pitch now, held the foreshadowing imagery of a knife pressed against a gulping throat.

Kaoru didn't hear the other man's reply.  Ken covered the mouth piece to speak to her.  "We're leaving.  Get what ever you need.  I'll be waiting for you in the hallway."  And then he was moving away rapidly toward the door, grabbing the house keys along the way.

Kaoru sighed and did as he asked, or rather ordered, she thought with a pang of annoyance.  She was going to have to set a few things straight with him after they got out of LA.  Her irritation soon faded however, as she rode down to the ground level with Ken in the elevator.  He was bickering vigorously with the person on the other end of the line.  From what she could piece together from this one end of the conversation, the person they were about to meet up with and Ken shared a dislike for each other, but also a grudging admiration.  She couldn't imagine bickering with Ken to such a high extent as this mysterious man dared.  A scowl of irritation permanently fixed itself upon Ken's face, which only deepened when they reached the ground floor and the elevator doors opened.  Apparently the person on the other line had hung up on him.  Annoyed, he flipped his phone shut and practically growled out at the night.

Kaoru couldn't help but laugh.

Ken's scowl lightened as he turned to her.  She was a giant gasp of fresh air, enough to keep his mind off the annoyance that man invoked in him.  "What?" he asked, not bothering to conceal the frustration from his tone.

"It's just funny to see you annoyed so easily.  I didn't know anyone had that effect on you."

The mirth shining in her eyes was amusing.  Why did her moods have such a strong effect on his?  He couldn't help but send her a brief smile as he held the door open for her to pass through.  She stopped in the doorway to drop a fleeting kiss on his cheek and then she was gone into the night.  Ken sighed and followed her.  He only hoped they would survive the night unscathed.

Kaoru waited for Ken at the bottom of the stairs, searching the well lit street for the vampire Ken had been talking to on the phone.  And then she saw him.  He was coming towards her from the left, tall and casual in blue jeans and a collared blue shirt.  Her vampire from yesterday, looking just as annoyed as Ken had before she'd made light of the situation, smoking a cigarette and flicking the ashes into the street, he met her eyes.  Wolf-like, he stopped in his tracks by the curb.

          It seemed to Kaoru that the air thickened with tension.  He'd glanced behind her at Ken, but then once again, his eyes had fallen to hers.  Here was the man who had saved her from that Takeda vampire.  Thinking fast, she supposed that Ken must think she felt threatened by him, which probably only magnified the friction level.  Since they were going to be together until they met up with Tomoe Yukishiro, Kaoru reasoned that they had all better get along.  So before she could think about it too much and lose her nerve, she walked quickly forward until she stood directly in front of him and held out her right hand.

          He smirked and placed his cigarette between his lips before grasping her hand in his, accepting the offer to shake.

          "Kamiya Kaoru," she introduced herself.

          "Saitou Hajime," he replied, his voice as sharp and predatory as she remembered.

          "Thanks for saving me yesterday," Kaoru managed as their hands fell apart.  The man still spooked her out.  "And I'm sorry about kicking you in the crotch," she added matter-of-factly.

          Ken let out a snort of laughter behind them.

          Saitou's eyes flashed as he looked beyond her.  "Shut up, Battousai.  I'm not going to enjoy this anymore than you, especially not with your little mistress following us around and getting in the way.  If I had it my way I would have been the one to kill Yukishiro, but my boss seems intent on forcing you to, so now I have to deal with it.  Now come on, we're taking cabs tonight."

          Kaoru narrowed her eyes up at the man.  He had just had the audacity to call her Ken's mistress and then order them both around like he was the one in charge.  No one likes to be insulted, and she was no exception.

          "What, little raccoon?" he asked in a mocking tone.

          "What did you just call me?"

          His only reply was a smirk and a puff of smoke in her face.

          Any retort Kaoru might have dreamed up was swallowed in a fit of coughing.  She squeezed her eyes shut to hold in the tears that threatened to jump from her eyes.  Needless to say, Kaoru did not do well with cigarette smoke.

          "Watch your self around Kaoru," Ken said, between the two in less than a second.  He was furious that Saitou had insulted the only person he treasured in this world.  "I won't tolerate you insulting her.  You've been warned, Saitou."

          Saitou lowered his voice so Kaoru couldn't hear over her coughing.  "Has the Battousai really weakened so much that his existence revolves around one scrawny human bitch?  I could crush her in two seconds.  You'd be wise to rid yourself of her after this is over, that or convert her into a vampire."

          "What I do is none of your business," Ken replied in a voice just as low.  "Kaoru is none of your business.  If you ever touch her again or so much as look at her wrong, I swear to you I will cut your head off and bring it to Tokio on a stake."

          "Darn vampires with over-inflated egos," Kaoru mumbled after she finally stopped coughing and opened her eyes once again.  Ken was watching Saitou with narrowed eyes as the man tried to catch a taxi.  The drivers all seemed wary of him and sped past, careful to avert their gazes from the man's yellow eyes.

          "Feeling better?" Ken asked in a tight voice.  

Kaoru figured he was still angry at Saitou or something.  Ken really needed to let the little things go.  It wasn't like Saitou had hurt her, and he may not have blown the smoke in her face on purpose.  Well, that probably wasn't the case, but the vampire seemed to be getting his just deserts chasing futilely after cabs.  Kaoru couldn't help but let out a watery giggle as Saitou tripped over the curb and almost fell on his face.  "I'm fine, Ken," she assured him, fumbling around in her purse for a tissue to wipe her eyes.  "aside from the fact that I can feel my lungs turning black.  Ugh.  Did I have to be breathing in when he did that?"  She'd decided to make light of the issue so Ken wouldn't be so tense around Saitou, which was definitely not making for a pleasant evening.  But when it was time for Saitou to leave…the man would feel her wrath.

Ken turned to ask her what that last inflection of her voice had meant, but the words never left his mouth.  There she was, his own perfect picture of life.  There was no way in Hell he deserved her, but there she was, fumbling around in another one of those purses Kamatari had made him buy for her that matched her outfit.  And through her thin white shirt, he could see the top of the bathing suit Kamatari had bought for her.  Kamatari had had enough foresight to make it relatively revealing.  Ken found himself looking forward to the beach party on the coast.  He wondered what the bottom of the suit looked like.  It wasn't like he hadn't memorized her shape.  The clingy clothes she wore left nothing to the imagination, but Kaoru in a bathing suit was a sight he'd only dreamed of.  To see all that skin with his own eyes and run his hand along the smooth lines of her body was certainly an event to look forward to.

She finished dabbing her eyes with the tissue and looked up at that moment, meeting his gaze.  An electric thrill pulsed through Kaoru's body.  He was practically stripping her with his eyes.  If it had been any other man, she would have screamed out 'hentai' and hit him over the head with her purse, but it was different with Ken.  She was powerless to do more than gaze, blushing, back at him.  Screaming 'hentai', and whacking him over the head with her purse may have aroused suspicion in any case since they were supposed to be married, Kaoru reflected, watching him with widened eyes as he came towards her.

Ken stared down at her, his expression slightly more tender, as he stood in front of her.  Kaoru stared back.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Kaoru was disappointed.  She'd been expecting him to kiss her or something.  "I'm fine," she replied softly, still not daring to break the spell.  The world had gone silent around them.

"We've already fought and it's only been an hour since sunset."  His voice held an undertone of regret.

"It's because you're so stubborn," she joked softly.

"It's been a week now, Kaoru, since you got stuck with me."

"And I'm not sorry for one minute of it.  I'm going to help you find the dark one, Ken.  I haven't forgotten what it did to Sanosuke."

He enveloped her in a hug, breathing in the smell of her shampoo from the top of her head.  He'd had to rely on his own inner strength for so long.  Here was a new source of intensity for him to focus on and draw from.  Even the harsh tones of Saitou swearing at every cab driver in the city were muted when he was around Kaoru.  It was hard to believe that it had only been one week since he had known her.  Relationships seldom developed this fast in his life.  One week and he knew he would risk his life for her, die for her, fall apart without her.  Could he go over that truth for his wondering mind enough?  Half the time he refused to believe he would make such sacrifices for her, but then his soul cut in to his denial and set him straight again.  She was changing him.

"What were you thinking?"  Her voice came muffled from where she had buried her head in his shoulder.

"What was I thinking?"  Ken repeated her question in surprise.

"When you were looking at me just now.  I never saw you at me like that before."

"Battousai!"  The bark of Saitou's voice was sharp.  "Hurry up, I finally caught a cab."

"I'll tell you tonight.  I promise."

"Okay."

He slid his arms from around her, but kept one of her hands in his as he led her towards the cab.

_I'm never going on that ride again!  I swear I almost fell out of it!_

_Sano, calm down.__  It's just the swinging ship._

_I don't care!  I swear I almost fell out and squished the people in front of us._

_Sano, you didn't, and even if you had I would have stopped you from falling._

_Would you?  How can I be so sure?_

_Sano, shut up.  People are starting to stare, you don't want to break our cover, do you?_

_I don't care!  That ship is worse than trains!  It's worse than roller coasters!  At least they strap you in properly for them!  I'm going to sue the amusement park!_

"Keep your cell phone on in case your girl contacts you, but don't expect her to.  Now make sure you have your wallet.  You and I are going out, kid."

"What?" Soujiro asked sleepily from under the covers where he had been napping.

"I'm here to baby-sit you, kid.  Enishi and Jineh are already gone.  If you expect to find your girl, then get your ass up out of bed.  I'll be waiting in the hallway."

"I'm sorry, Oji," Soujiro called halfheartedly after him.  With a sigh he disentangled himself from the sheets and hurriedly slipped on his shoes.  He was in no hurry to become a burden to his uncle.

**A/N – And that's that.  I hope you liked this chapter.  Again, I'm sorry I made you all wait.  Leave me a review if the chapter was ok and you forgive me enough.  Thanks!  ~Aryanne**


	11. Send the Word Out

**A/N – This chapter was actually written over my spring break in mid-March, so I'm warning you not to expect another one too soon.  Since I wasn't able to do more than revise this chapter since I've come back to college, I don't expect I'll be able to turn out another chapter for a couple weeks.  So sorry!  I hope you can forgive me enough to read this chapter.  Thanks!  The shout out to the reviewers will be after the end of the chapter.  I had to change the format a bit.  FF.net was messing with me.**

**Disclaimer – There's a difference between those who own Kenshin, and those who wish they owned Kenshin.  Well I wish I owned Kenshin.  I don't own Word Perfect either, or Nissan.**

****

**Silver Cross**

****

**Chapter 11 – Send the Word Out**

**_Mmmmm_****_ . . . mmmmm . . . mmmmm . . ._**

**_What are all the 'mmmmm's for?_**

**_Mmmmm_****_._****_  I love pickles and ketchup on potato chips._**

"Look, we don't have time to deal with your petty love triangle right now and I refuse to talk about it anymore in front of him," Saitou said blandly, jerking a thumb towards the taxi driver.

"But I have to tell him!  If he knows, then maybe he'll ditch the –"  Kaoru cast a glance at the nosy taxi driver.  She'd almost said the word 'hunters'.  Ken threw her a warning glance.  "- those people he's hanging out with," she amended, "and go back home."

Saitou snorted.  "Fat chance.  That's never going to happen unless you tell him to his face, which is impossible at this point and time."

"The kid has a right to know," Ken put in.

"He damn well does!  But the circumstances are against him.  He can't know.  They don't even know 100% for sure that you two are still in LA, and I'd like to keep it that way to minimize the peons I have to deal with since we're doomed to hang out with each other for a while.  If this chick wasn't muddling your brain processes, then you would know what I'm saying is right."

Kaoru was sick and tired of Saitou blaming her.  It had been a long cab ride so far.  "Why do you blame every single action he does that you don't like on me?!" she asked angrily.

"What are you suggesting?"

Kaoru could sense the blade edge in the man's voice, even though she couldn't see his face, as he was in the front passenger seat.  "I'm suggesting that you just don't like the idea of him and me together!  Do you think I'm not good enough for him or something?"

"On the contrary, I think it's him that's not good enough for you," Saitou corrected coolly.  "What kind of person is he to put you in danger if he cares for you so much?"

"He's not the one putting me in danger!  I'd bloody well say it was you and your people putting me in danger!"  It was much easier to argue with Saitou when she couldn't see his face.

"Stop it both of you," Ken cut in.  "You can call Seta after our dealings with Saitou are over, Kaoru."

"A wise decision," Saitou agreed.

So he'd won.  Kaoru bit back a protest, but managed to keep her silence.  She turned her head to the window and stared out at the city traffic moodily.  She wasn't the one who had wanted to call Sou in the first place; she'd been sticking up for Ken's views when she'd argued with Saitou.  So he'd changed his mind.  She could deal with that.  It was a relief to put the matter off in any case.  It was bound to cause her tears when she finally called him anyway.

The silence in the cab was broken only by the calypso music on the radio for the next few minutes until they reached the tea house.  Ken pushed the argument from his mind with difficulty.  He didn't like making Kaoru unhappy, but Saitou did have valid reasons for refusing to agree to the call.  True, the chance was slight, but the possibility did exist that the hunters wouldn't gain evidence as to his and Kaoru's whereabouts in the city, or the fact that he and Kaoru were in the city, as long as he kept a low profile.  Bye-bye to the pleasing idea of having Kaoru officially all to himself.  They were headed towards Ayame's, the most high profile teahouse in the city.  Everyone and anyone in the vampire culture who cared would know that he was in the city as soon as he set foot in there.  But it couldn't be helped, he had to let Tomoe Yukishiro know that he was in the city, and there was no better way to do it.  Once she knew, she would find him, of that he was certain.  

Ken had never sought her out.  She would be curious as to why he chose to now, and also on her guard, but that couldn't be helped.  Once he had made an effort to find Tomoe at the teahouse, he could finally be rid of Saitou.  The other vampire knew there was nothing else Ken could do that night that pertained to his mission for the Juppongatana.  Tomorrow night would be very eventful, but this night would be relatively calm in the Tomoe aspect.  And once Saitou was gone, he and Kaoru could start searching for clues and step closer to finding the dark one.  Crashing the beach party would be a piece of cake, hopefully Seijuro Hiko wouldn't mind too much.

His train of thought was broken by the taxi driver pulling abruptly up at the curb of Ayame's.

"Who's paying?" Kaoru asked.

Ken was cheered a little by her tone.  She seemed to have gotten over not being able to call Soujiro Seta already.  "Half and half," he asked Saitou.

The man shrugged and held his hand back so Ken could give him the money.  "Whatever."

Ken rolled his eyes and slapped the money in his hand before sliding out and holding his hand to Kaoru, who had to slide across the seats in order to emerge from the taxi curbside.

"Why are we here?" she asked Ken as Saitou waited for his change.

"This is one of the most public restaurants in L.A.  It's a teahouse run by a female vampire, but her employees and performers are human," Ken explained.  "I doubt Tomoe's here, but this is the easiest place to put the word out that I'm in town and I'm looking for her.  After I talk to the owner we'll wait about ten minutes and then leave.  The word will be out and we'll come back tomorrow and see what information the owner has for me about Tomoe's whereabouts."

"Hurry up, I need air-conditioning," Saitou grunted, stepping out of the cab and straightening up.

Ken rolled his eyes in Saitou's direction before flashing Kaoru a smile and walking into the teahouse.  Kaoru considered Ken's words.  Wouldn't that mean the hunters could find out they were in L.A. as well, making the reasons for not calling Soujiro obsolete?  She sighed and followed Ken inside, conscious of Saitou behind her.  The teahouse itself erased any misgivings she may have had the moment she entered though.  The restaurant itself was dim; the performer on center stage oozed panache, the waiters and waitresses glided smoothly around the huge room in pressed black and white uniforms.  This teahouse was a classy establishment.  

Kaoru thought of Tae back home in Pennsylvania.  This teahouse was her dream for the Akabeko some day soon.  She hoped Tae was doing ok without her and hadn't fired her or anything.  When had she left?  Thursday night, and now it was Monday.  How long had she known Ken?  Kaoru thought back to the first time she'd served him at the Akabeko.  She'd written in her diary before she'd gone to work, and that had been the seventh of July, a Monday.  She'd taken off until the next Monday.  That was today.  Gulp.  She was supposed to work today.  She'd better call Tae and tell her she wouldn't be coming in for a while yet or the woman would flip out and fire her when Kaoru finally got back to Pennsylvania.  That wasn't a pretty picture. 

"Hello and welcome to Ayame's.  Party of three I assume?" a cheerful waitress asked.

"Yes, thank you," Ken replied with a polite smile.

"Smoking or non-smoking?" she asked, picking up three menus from the stand next to her.

"Non-smoking," Kaoru answered firmly, with a frown in Saitou's direction.  She mentally dared him to contradict her.

"Alright, follow me, please."

Kaoru took in the sights of the teahouse as she followed behind Ken.  They weaved through the tables to a circular table for three towards the front of the restaurant.  The vampire culture of L.A. didn't seem all that different from the human one as far as surface appearances went, but Kaoru could sense an underlying tension.  She wondered how the human staff dealt with it, or if they even realized it was there.  Of course, the question that had to be asked was how many of them were contacts?  As long as she didn't find herself mistaken for one again, Kaoru found she didn't really need to know.

Ken pulled back a chair for her, and she sank into it gratefully, a little spooked at the possibility that she might be mistaken for a contact.

"Can I start you all out with waters?" the waitress asked.

Kaoru nodded to Ken, who glanced at Saitou for confirmation.  "Sure.  Three please."

"Great.  I'll be back in a few minutes to take your orders."

"So when are you going to talk to the owner and let everyone know you're looking for Tomoe?" Kaoru asked Ken, glancing around nervously.

"Relax," Ken reassured her.  "I'll ask the waitress after we order.  Now be calm or you'll attract unnecessary attention to our table."

"Listen to him, Kamiya.  Focus on your menu or something," Saitou put in crabbily as he glanced through the menu, looking for the entire world like he was sulking for want of a cigarette.

Kaoru sighed and picked up her menu, feeling suddenly antsy.  "How long are we staying?"

Saitou rolled his eyes at her.  "Until we finish our tea."

Kaoru gave up questioning the two vampires.  They seemed to be calmer here.  If they thought there was no need to be on guard, then who was she to argue?  This was at least better than the tense silence of the cab ride.  And the menu was interesting.  As she didn't know what half the teas and cakes on the meal were, she decided to go with lemon tea and a blueberry muffin.  That decided, she turned to watch the performer on stage.  Small talk was not going to happen as long as she was sitting at a table with Saitou.

Ken watched Kaoru instead of his menu as she stared at the performer on stage with a faraway expression in her eyes.  She was far away from him now.  He wondered what she was dreaming of.  The woman on stage had a nice voice, soothing and strong as if she was singing the crowd a lullaby.  Ayame knew just who to hire to make people feel at home in her teahouse.  Ken was looking forward to seeing her again.  Although she'd been turned into a vampire at a later stage in her human life than he had, she was still a century younger than him.  She'd traveled with him and Sano for a few months until she'd been able to exist in the vampire world on her own.  And look at how far Ayame had come.  Ken was proud of her.  He knew Sano would be as well.

"Are you all ready to order now?"

"Yes.  I'll have the chamomile tea," Saitou answered.

"One chamomile tea," the waitress repeated, jotting the order down on her pad.  "And you, miss?"

"Lemon tea," Kaoru said, deciding to skip on the muffin since Saitou hadn't ordered any food.

The waitress nodded to her and moved to Ken.  "What about you, sir?"

"Green tea."

"Very well, sir."

"And I'd like to see Miss Ayame if she's not busy."

The waitress's face clouded a bit in confusion.  "She's very busy, sir.  We usually have a lot more customers at this hour than this, but I don't know if she'll be able to come and speak to you personally."

He'd been expecting this.  Ayame rarely helped serve customers anymore.  But she would make time for him, he knew.  "Just tell her Ken's here," he ordered, softening the order with a disarming smile as he handed her the menus.

"I will, sir," she nodded, moving away with their menus.

Kaoru went back to considering the performer on stage.  Ken went back to considering Kaoru.  Saitou gave a snort of disgust before watching the performer on stage as well and alternately sipping his water.  There was nothing else for him to do.

**_I am lovin' the _****_Bahamas_****_.  I'm glad I thought of coming here._**

**_You thought of it?_**

**_Yup._****_  And I am also loving the Bahama girls._**

**_But they hate you._**

**_Eh, they're only playing hard to get._**__

"Where are we going, Oji?" Soujiro asked, watching the traffic in front of them as his uncle drove.  They'd taken a taxi straight to a rental agency where his uncle had rented a silver BMW for a week.  Now they were simply cruising around L.A., for all Soujiro knew, and had been for the past half hour.

"No where at the moment, kid.  I'm waiting for Enishi or Jineh to call in.  Then we'll ditch the vampires who are tailing us and start in earnest with the process of finding your girl."

"Vampires are tailing us?!" Soujiro exclaimed, starting to twist in his seat.

"Don't!"

Soujiro froze at the tone of his uncle's voice.

"I don't want them to know that we know until the last second, or it'll be harder to lose them when the time comes.  I like this car too much to ding it up on a fast turn," he paused.  "Just sit back and rest easy, Soujiro.  This'll be fun."

Soujiro wondered what his uncle's idea of fun was.

**_What are you doing?_**

**_Reading_****_._**

**_I know that.  Why?_**

**_It's good for the brain._**

**_Why The Complete Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales though?_**

**_It's the only thing I could find._**

**_I have serious doubts about you sometimes, Ken._**

"Ken!  I'm so happy to see you!" an elegant woman carrying their tea on a circular tray practically squealed as she came towards their table.  Their waitress followed behind in confusion.  "Who had the chamomile?"

"I did," Saitou spoke up.

"It's good to see you too, Miss Ayame," Ken said warmly, standing.

So this was the owner of the teahouse, Kaoru thought, looking the woman over.  She seemed nice enough.  A brunette, she wore her hair cascading down her back and was clothed in a traditional kimono and obi.  She was just as elegant and beautiful as the performer on stage.  No wonder most of the men at the tables around them were watching her discretely.

"Oh, sit down and drop the 'miss', Ken.  I never made you call me that before," the woman fussed as she served Saitou.  Their waitress waited behind her, still looking slightly puzzled.  "And you had the lemon, right, hon?" she asked Kaoru.

"Yes, thank you," Kaoru answered, wondering what the connection was between Ken and this woman.  She was always curious whenever Ken showed such an easy manner of familiarity with someone.  He didn't often adopt that manner with her.

"Sit down, sit down, Ken," the woman fretted.  "You're a guest here, and I want you to behave like one," she finished, placing Ken's cup of tea and saucer at his place at the table.  She handed the now empty tray to the waitress and shooed her away, before turning back to Ken, who had ignored her requests to sit down, and throwing her arms around his neck.  "It's been a long time," she smiled, releasing him.

"Yes it has," Ken agreed.  He offered her his chair to sit in.

"Oh, no.  I can only stay for a few minutes.  This place is quite a handful to run.  What's up?  I know Saitou of course, but who is this lovely girl you're with?" she asked, leaning down and placing her elbows on the table as Ken sat down.  "A new contact already?" she asked, studying Kaoru with an avid interest.

"No," Kaoru muttered.  Darn, mistaken for a contact again.  She couldn't suppress a quiet sigh.  Meanwhile, Ken had the grace to cast an apologetic look her way before he answered.

"No.  This is Kamiya Kaoru.  She's traveling with me."  Ken didn't think it was very wise to give Ayame more information than that or the whole vampire community would know about her before the end of the night.

Ayame extended a graceful to Kaoru.  Her handshake was firm.  Kaoru could sense the strength behind it, which wasn't surprising considering the woman was a vampire.  Ayame released her hand and made a sympathetic noise.  "Not a contact though.  Must be hard for you.  I still say you should find yourself a nice female vampire and settle down somewhere."

"Have you found yourself a nice male vampire and settled down?" Ken asked dryly.  He'd forgotten the match-making aspect of Ayame's character.  Sano had been all too happy to go along with it, but since he wasn't around, all her efforts would be focused on him.  That was just great.  Kaoru would not be happy.

Ayame's laugh held all the childish innocence she'd once possessed, that had compelled Sano and him to help her in the first place.  "No way!  He'd probably want me to give up the teahouse and settle down with him somewhere outside of the city.  I like being in the fast track.  You though, you like all that country living, that quality will make some woman happy," she hinted with a sly smile.

Kaoru was not happy, but she didn't see much use in being immature and pouting about it.  She would just have to tolerate this Ayame woman.  She was the means to an end after all, and Kaoru herself was learning more about Ken through her.  The woman's mention of Ken finding a 'nice female vampire' did make her a little depressed though.  As much as she loved Ken, she loved the Lord more, and she was not going to sacrifice her humanity by becoming a vampire.  To cover her sudden frown, she added sugar and a little bit of cream to her tea from the containers at the center of their table.  She felt better in action; it took her mind off her and Ken's hopeless situation.

"That's not much of an excuse, Ayame," Ken informed her in a soft tone.

She sighed, some of the merriment taken from her gaze.  She knew Ken would rather see her with a strong vampire who could protect her in case any of the wrong people came around after hours.  The teahouse was a hotbed for information.  She'd already received numerous bribes from various organizations to let them bug the restaurant.  Ken also didn't want her to be lonely.  "I'll find the bum someday, Ken.  Don't worry about me.  Now what did you come to the teahouse for, besides to see me of course?"

"I'd like to set up a meeting with Tomoe Yukishiro."

Ayame frowned.  "That woman?" she asked doubtfully.  "Well, alright, Ken.  I'll spread the word around.  May I ask why?"

Ken knew Ayame didn't miss the glance he threw at Saitou.  He'd taught her better.  "I would rather you not know."

"Whatever you say, Ken.  I will most definitely spread the word.  I'm not pleased that you won't tell me _why_ I'm spreading the word, but I'd do almost anything for you.  Now I'll have to bid you all adieu for tonight.  I confess I left the kitchens in the middle of a crisis.  I trust I'll see you again tomorrow?"

Ken nodded.

"Okay, then," she finished, straightening to stand tall and aristocratic once again.  "Farewell, Ken.  Nice meeting you, Kamiya Kaoru."

With that she was gone.

"I'm glad that's over with," Saitou grumbled.  "I see that wench way too often for my liking."

Kaoru frowned at him.  "You see her on a regular basis?" she asked before taking a sip of tea.

"Yes.  The wife and she are friends," Saitou admitted with a roll of his eyes.

Kaoru nearly spit out her tea, all sulky thoughts of Ayame ejected from her mind.  The idea of Saitou, her temple vampire, with a wife, was just too weird and hilarious to be true.  "You're married?!"

"What's so unusual about that?"

Kaoru fought valiantly to stop herself from dissolving into laughter, but it was a losing battle from the start.

**_Come, Cap! . . . Cap!  Come!_**

**_The dog's not listening to you again?_**

**_Don't rub it in.  Cap, come!_**

**_What did he do this time, steal another woman's purse?_**

**_No!  That was a one time deal.  I don't know why he did that.  He just ran off chasing a rabbit, that's all, and now he won't come back, and I'm not chasing him all around the park again._**

**_Um, I think you'd better start chasing before the parent of that little kid sues you._**

**_Oh, shit!  Cap! No!  Bad dog!_**

His uncle was finally on the phone with Jineh.  Soujiro listened carefully to Shishio's side of the conversation.  He had a feeling he would need to know as much as he could while he was hanging around with his uncle.  A part of him wanted to head back to Japan, to the peaceful world of his grandparent's estate on rural Kyushu.  But he could never live with himself if he left without finding Kaoru first.  She hadn't sounded all that alarmed or even upset on the phone.  Her tone had held only wonder.  True, there had been a little trepidation, but he'd attributed that to being across the country without her parents knowing.  Did this Ken fellow really have her brainwashed?  He'd thought Kaoru was stronger than that, but there were some pretty strange things going on in this other world he hadn't known existed.

"… We'll be there in fifteen minutes," his uncle finished, snapping his cell phone shut and slipping it into the pocket of his khakis.  "It's time to ditch our little parade, Soujiro.  Are you strapped in?  Your mother would never forgive me if you were hurt in a car accident."

The man's tone was neutral, but Sou knew better than to hope he'd spoken out of any care for his nephew.  Luckily, Sou had strapped himself in almost by reflex the minute he'd gotten in the car, so he didn't have to dignify that with a response.

Shishio glanced over at his nephew.  "Good, kid."  He reached up and strapped himself in.  "I'm not going to take any chances.  When that light turns green, you're going to witness some ace driving.  I may be a little rusty at first, but we should ditch these guys in five minutes- if they're any good."

"Where are we going after you ditch them?"

Shishio gave Soujiro a long sideways look.  "Enishi and Jineh found my old vampire informant.  We're just heading to meet up with the guy.  Up, the light's green!  It's go time."

After a quick glance around for cops, Shishio rammed his foot down on the gas, jerking them both back into the padding of their seats.  Careening down a busy street in L.A. at night wasn't exactly where Soujiro wanted to be at that very minute, especially since his uncle was turning out to be a reckless driver.  He had to give the man credit though, with all the tight corners he was able to miraculously cut, the car had received not one scratch.

"Keep your eye on the white Taurus, kid!" Shishio yelled over the squeal of brakes as they whipped through a red light at the next intersection.

Against his better judgment, Soujiro twisted around in his seat and peered backwards, searching.  It wasn't too hard to find as it was the only car that had managed to avoid the pile up at the aforementioned intersection.  The glare of lights across the windshield prevented him from seeing who was in the car, but it looked like two people.  Soujiro gulped.  Vampires were after him and wanted to kill him.  It wasn't a very good feeling to be driving around out in the open with people who wanted to kill you on your tail.  He was suddenly glad his uncle didn't seem intimidated in the least.  His strength allowed Sou to hold onto his dignity and not run screaming for the nearest police station.  It wouldn't be so bad to be locked up in a cell at that moment.  Even though he couldn't get out, the vampires couldn't very well get in, could they?

"See any cops, kid?  I have to watch the road," Shishio yelled.

Soujiro panned the streets around them.  Not one blur of white cop car.  "Nope, but we can't going on driving this fast without running in to the LAPD sooner or later!" Sou yelled back.

"I know; that's why I've got to break every traffic law in the book and lose this car now!" Shishio replied with a grin, cutting into a one way alley – the wrong way.

Perhaps some of his uncle's reckless character was rubbing off on him, but all of a sudden the near death situation didn't seem quite so bad.

**_Sano, your driving is horrible._**

**_What are you talking about?  I got my license fair and square._**

**_Ahhh!!!_**

**_Shut up.  We're alive.  I didn't know you were such a wimp._**

**_That was an 18 wheeler back there!  You don't just cut in front of an 18 wheeler!_**

**_Hey, who's the one driving here?!  Besides, we lived.  He only bumped us a little before the car sped up._**

**_Idiot!  That would have hurt a lot!_**

**_Not as much as this will hurt if I don't make the turn just right!_**

**_Sano! Noooo!!!_**

**_… You're such a wimp.  I did that perfectly._**

**_I think I peed my pants._**

"That's all you're going to do tonight?  My boss is not going to be pleased with you, Battousai."

"Then that's Myoujin's problem.  You know how fast word spreads from Ayame's.  Tomoe will either meet me there in person tomorrow, or leave me a message.  In the meantime, I am going to do what I came here for – find the dark one."

"Fine.  I suppose you've made it easier on all of us.  I'll contact you an hour after sunset tomorrow."  Saitou walked away into the crowd.

Kaoru let out a breath of relief.  "Things are looking up now that he's gone."

"I'll say," Ken agreed, grabbing her hand as he searched the traffic for an unoccupied taxicab.  "Now we're headed to a dealership to get a car for the rest of the night."

"We're not taking cabs?" Kaoru asked, glad to feel Ken's hand in her own.

"There're no cabs where we're going unless you call ahead, and we need a quick getaway.  I don't want the other car we rented to be recognizable yet, so we'll rent another one just for tonight," he explained.

Kaoru was pleased that he'd told her the reasoning behind his actions for once.  Yes, things were definitely looking up.  "Where are we going?"

"A beach party," he answered mildly, eyes intent on the cab that had seen him and was pulling up in front of them.

Kaoru tuned out the talk between Ken and the cab driver at the mention of a beach party.  She'd been hoping Ken had forgotten about that, but she should have known he hadn't with her luck.  Kamatari had outfitted her with two suits, one a modest one piece and the other more questionable.  It was too bad she seemed to have misplaced the one piece earlier that evening.  Compared to the suits, or rather lack of suits, they made models wear, she supposed it wasn't too, bad, but it still revealed more skin than she was accustomed to.  The bottom was a cute shorts type deal, extremely short of course, but hey, at least they were shorts.  It was a bikini top though, that revealed a bit too much cleavage for her to wear in front of her parents or her relatives.  She could just imagine her mortification at that particular family reunion.  The only thought she had to comfort her was that no one would know her at the party and she wasn't likely to ever see the people there again.  A small comfort.

The ride to the dealership was way too short and awkward in Kaoru's opinion.  Ken kept tossing her strange glances.  It figured he would know something was wrong.  Kaoru couldn't help but fret as Ken paid the taxi driver and helped her out of the car.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his tone muted, surprising her by sweeping her up in his arms before the taxi had even driven away.

Kaoru sighed and closed her eyes.  "It's silly.  You don't want to hear about it."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

Ken laughed.  "Yes I do."

"No you don't."

Ken tickled her waist with the hand that rested against it.  "Tell me."

Kaoru squealed and tried to jump back, but he held her close.

"I'll torture you until you tell," Ken threatened.

Kaoru jerked and squirmed in his arms, trying to avoid his hands.  By this time the pedestrians passing by were giving the couple strange looks.  "Ok, ok, I'll tell you," a puffing Kaoru gave in, glad to finally be able to control her breathing.  "This is going to sound really dumb, but the bathing suit Kamatari picked out for me is not enough suit, if you know what I mean."

"I know.  I'm looking forward to the moment when you take off your shirt," Ken breathed in her ear.

"Hentai," Kaoru accused in a hushed tone.

"Nope.  That suggests I look at all women, whereas in truth I only look at you," he replied.

Kaoru felt like she was going to faint.  Who would have imagined a man would ever say that to her?  She had a strong feeling she should be hitting him upside his head with her purse, but she knew she wasn't going to be taking that course of action any time soon, not when he was staring down at her so much possession in those gold violet eyes, not when one of his hands was caressing her face while the other held her tight to him, not when he held the power to put her at ease with a few well said compliments and a little flirting.

"You will look wonderful in that suit, Kaoru.  Promise me you'll wear it at the party," he requested with a whisper in her ear.  He wished he could kiss her neck, but she was wearing the earrings.  That would certainly ruin the moment.

"I promise," Kaoru acquiesced, closing her eyes and meeting his lips in a light kiss.  "Hey, you just shamelessly manipulated me," she accused as soon as they broke apart.  "I don't have to put up with that."

"Yes you do."

"Why?  How are you going to make it up to me?"  Kaoru asked, aware that Ken was concentrating more on her lips than what she was saying.

"I'll let you pick the car."

"Deal," Kaoru sealed the pact with a laugh and twisted free from his arms.

Forty-five minutes later Ken was a lot poorer, but Kaoru was a lot happier.  She seemed content to sit back in the passenger seat and let the wind course through her hair, which she'd put back in a pony tail to prevent one _bad_ hair day.

"I love this car.  I think I'll buy one some day when I'm old and can afford things like this," she said appreciatively.  "Look what I'm sitting in, Ken.  A Nissan 300 ZX!  I know people who would kill for a ride in a car like this."

"That's because it's too damn expensive to get for free.  The other car we loaned for a week cost less than this," Ken grumbled, although he was happy with Kaoru's choice.  The five gear feature was impressive and exceedingly satisfying on the open highway.

"Aw, you know you love it!" Kaoru exclaimed, planting a flyaway kiss on his cheek.  She settled back into her seat to examine his profile.  "Ken, this car was made for you.  I'm going to always remember this moment.  You, me, the open highway.  It's perfect."  She sighed in contentment.

"It would be even better if you were wearing a bikini top," Ken grumbled again underneath his breath so she couldn't make out his words.  He didn't want Kaoru hearing him say that.

"Did you say something?" she asked, all sun and flowers.

"No, must have been the radio."

"It's not even on – Hey!  The sound system!" Kaoru remembered, brightening even more if that was possible and leaning forward in a hurry to fiddle with it.  "She only want me for my pimp juice – ooo-ooh," she sang along with Nelly before dissolving into laughter and switching the radio station.

Ken knew then that it was going to be a long ride.

**_What do you think I'd look like with an afro?  Black power!_**

**_First of all, you're not black.  Second, you're hair is not curly.  You'd have to get a perm or a wig.  Third, I think you would look stupid._**

"Wow.  You didn't say we were going to a beach party at a mansion," Kaoru half scolded as she looked up at the huge house.

"It's a private party on a private beach, what did you expect?" he asked as he parked the car a good block away.  It was looking like the attendance at the party was huge.  That was fine with him; it would be easier to conceal the fact that they didn't have invitations.  Ken was sorry they'd arrived so quickly.  As long as Kaoru stayed away from the rap she had a sweet voice that he enjoyed listening too.  Although he supposed even if she couldn't hold a tune to save her life he'd still enjoy listening to the sound of her voice.  

"Should I bring my purse?" Kaoru asked, wondering what the party guests were dressed like.  She hoped her white cotton shirt, flared skirt, and black flip flops would be appropriate.

"Yes, don't leave it in the car.  The host will have a place to stash our belongings set aside from the party."

"What kind of guests are they?" Kaoru asked as she opened the car door and stepped onto the grass of a luxurious lawn.

Ken knew she was asking if they were human or vampire.  "About half and half.  The host is a vampire.  Since a lot of vampires are young when they're turned, beach parties are popular in L.A.  It'll be fun for you, and these people will float around a lot of rumors about the dark one," he continued as he walked around the front of the car and took her hand, leading her towards the mansion.  "Plus I get to see you in this suit you're so worried about," he finished, amused to see her blush even in the shadows of the night.

"Stop going on about that, you're making me nervous."

"It'll be okay.  Just relax and have fun.  There are a lot of friends to be made at parties like this.  If you're ever in L.A. again, you'll have people to show you a good time."

"Hola! Mi hombre!  You and your chick headed for the party?" the voice of a young man asked, as he emerged from the road in front of them.

"Yes.  How's it going?" Ken asked in reply.

"The party's great, man!  I'm headed out for an hour to pick up my girl and bring her back here.  Enjoy it.  Hiko did a slammin' job this time," the man gushed before continuing on.

"Did you know him?" Kaoru asked.

"No."  Ken shrugged.

"Who's Hiko?"

"The vampire who owns the mansion.  He's even older than me.  He was turned when he was in his mid-thirties, but he likes to hang around with the younger generation of vampires sometimes.  You won't miss him when you see him."

They walked the rest of the way in silence.  Ken was glad that Kaoru didn't seem to notice when he steered her away from the front door and around the side of the house through the gardens instead of walking through the house to get to the beach.  There were plenty of couples in the garden though, so he didn't feel conspicuous.  The couples were mostly human, achingly young men and a few bikini goddesses lounging on benches or in the grass.  Some had champagne bottles or beer cans.  He'd have to make sure that Kaoru didn't get drunk.  Who knew when a quick vampire would try to slip something into her glass when she wasn't looking?

Ken forgot about that and only saw the lights in her eyes as soon as they emerged from the garden onto the shore.  Lamps were lit all over the beach, stuck high on poles embedded deep in the sand.  In the middle of all the people was a giant bonfire surrounded by logs for the guests to sit on.  At one end of the beach a band crooned songs into the night.  Hired help moved through the crowed in short tan dresses, serving drinks and picking up litter.

One of the young women hired to help run the party rushed over to them as they stood at the edge of the crowd.  "Hello and welcome to the party.  Please follow me to the changing quarters and I'll get you both situated."

Kaoru seemed willing enough to follow her, so Ken simply shrugged and allowed her to pull him along.  They reached the makeshift tents after a couple minutes of weaving through the edge of the crowd.

Kaoru handed over her purse to the woman, who placed it on a pile of other purses.

"Your purse is number 207 miss, but don't worry, I never forget a face, I'll remember which one it is.  Take off your earrings and put them in your purse.  It's not a friendly gesture to the vampire community, hon."  

Kaoru glanced to Ken for confirmation.  He shrugged.  Kaoru did as the woman instructed, placing the earrings inside her purse and zipping it up before handing it over to the woman, who continued.  "You can change in here."

Ken moved to follow Kaoru inside the small makeshift room.

"Oh no, sir.  We've got separate stalls for the men."

"I'd rather help Kaoru change."  Ken didn't let go of her hand.

Kaoru blushed a deep pink.  The woman giggled.  Ken smirked.

"Well just this once I guess it's okay," the woman allowed.  "Just hurry up and get in there before anyone sees you!" she ordered, shoving them both inside the cramped space.

Ken locked the door behind them.  Kaoru's blush turned red.

"Well this is awkward," Kaoru said nervously, keeping her eyes trained on Ken's eyes.  Like there was anything else in the room to look at.

"No it's not.  Do you want to wear your flip flops or not?"

Kaoru blinked at him for a moment before the question processed in her brain.  "Um, no.  I might lose them in the water."

"See, that's not so awkward."  Maybe it had been a mistake to do this after all, Ken wondered.  But it wasn't like either of them would be naked.  They both had their swimming trunks on underneath their clothes.  How he felt for Kaoru couldn't be a mistake.  No, he assured himself, this was right.  To put her at ease, he plopped down on the sand and began by taking off his socks and shoes.  He could feel her eyes on him.  After a moment she slid her feet out of her flip flops, and nudged them over next to his shoes with her toes.  She even had cute toes, Ken marveled, watching them.

Kaoru couldn't help but let out a laugh.  "Stop staring at my feet, Ken."  She held out a hand to help him up, which he readily took.

"They're cute," he protested in his defense.

Kaoru rolled her eyes, watching him as he undid his belt and unzipped his pants, revealing a pair of navy blue swim trunks.  Watching him undress was fascinating.  He was neater than any woman she'd ever seen.  He folded his pants neatly and placed them on top of his shoes, then shrugged out of his jacket, pulled his shirt over his head, folded and placed them on the pile as well, and viola!  Ken looked for all the world like a beach bum.

He met her eyes with a grin and rose to his feet.  "I admit I would rather look at your eyes though."

She blushed prettily again.  Ken found that making her blush was very amusing.

"Now which comes off first, the shirt or the skirt?" he asked.

"The skirt," Kaoru said softly, deciding that there was no one better to place her faith in than Ken.  She might as well let him run the show.  It wasn't like she didn't want him to anyway.  She watched his eyes as he slowly reached his hand around her waist to feel for the zipper.  He found it soon enough on the side seam of the skirt and slowly unzipped it, bringing the skirt down low until she could step out of it.  He folded it and tossed it behind her, on top of her flip flops she guessed.  His eyes left hers and traveled down her legs before coming back up.  Placing a hesitant hand on her waist, he and let it drift down over the skintight fabric of the suit so that it rested on her butt.  Kamatari had outfitted her with one of those suits that had a shorts bottom.  Ken would have preferred more of a traditional style, but hey, these were just as skin tight.  The suit's muted shade of blue complimented her tan skin.  Her ass was firm and fit under his hand.

"Ken?" she asked, her voice faint against the background murmur of the party and the ocean waves.

He knew she expected a more playful mood and was confused at his silence.  "Do you play a sport?  You're so tan.  I know there's no beach in Pennsylvania."

"I'm on the club tennis team at school and I've been playing with a couple of girlfriends since school let out for the summer."

"You play in bathing suits?" he asked incredulously, noticing her tan lines were covered by the suit she was wearing.

She smiled impishly.  "How else are we going to get some sun?"

Ken tried to imagine Kaoru running around a tennis court in nothing but a bathing suit and sneakers.  His mind started reeling.  "Wouldn't everyone see?"

"Everyone?" Kaoru asked, confused.  "One of the girls has rich parents.  They have their own private tennis courts in their backyard.  Her parents never use them, so they're all ours.  Sweet deal, huh?"

A deep longing for the sun flooded through Ken and he wished desperately at that moment that he was human, that he could watch Kaoru running around the court in the sun.  But he had long resigned himself to the fact that he could never go outside in the sun again.  He only wished he hadn't taken his human life for granted during the long ago days before he'd been turned into a vampire.  He should have done so many things differently.  But that was the past, and it wasn't going to come back except as a rush of memories.  If he had never been turned into a vampire, he would never have met Kaoru.  He owed Tomoe gratitude for that, so he would make her death quick and painless.

"Must be nice, but does your friend also have a private beach in her back yard?" Ken asked, pushing aside the somber thoughts and reminding Kaoru of the place they were at here and now to dispel the faraway look in her eyes.

She smiled up at him.  "No-o."  She'd seen a hint of sorrow in his eyes for a fleeting moment there and thought with a pang for the hundredth time what a master Ken was at concealing his emotions.

"I didn't think so."  He placed a lingering kiss on the hollow of her throat and moved his hands to the top button of her shirt.  She smelled like Dove soap.  He relaxed and inhaled her scent as he undid the buttons on her shirt.  "You were worried you couldn't pull this suit off?" he asked incredulously, rubbing a thumb across the top of her breasts.  

She shivered under his touch.  "Yes," she defended herself.  "It's one thing wearing a two piece in front of your girlfriends.  It's another wearing it in front of you and the rest of the male population."

Ken felt a grin form across his lips.  Her prudent nature was droll.  "I'm sure they'll find you pleasing to behold."  

"That's just the trouble.  It feels uncomfortable when everyone stares at you, you know?  I don't know, maybe I'm insecure or something," she sighed.  "At least there are plenty of other women here in skimpier bathing suits, so I won't feel too conspicuous."

"They only look at you because you turn them on," Ken teased, playing his thumb down between her breasts.

She rolled her eyes, striving to maintain control over her conversational skills and ignore the distraction of his touch.  "I hardly think that's the reason."

"It's the reason I look at you," Ken told her, watching as she blushed and looked down at his hand on her breasts, unable to maintain eye contact.

Everything about Kaoru's body was fascinating, and this particular part of her anatomy was no exception.  Sure he'd felt them against his chest when she hugged him, but he'd never had the chance to stare at her body unabashedly for fear of bringing her wrath upon him, which would not be good.  He brought his face close so that he knew she could feel his breath on her skin.  She visibly tensed for a moment.  He brought his lips down on the top of one breast where his thumb had been moments before, her sudden intake of breath satisfying some inner recess of his brain.  Slowly, he trailed his mouth up her breasts, leaving a wet trail, to her neck.  He could feel his fangs start to protrude from his gums and press against her flesh.  Willpower.  He moved his lips on, taking his time, up to her mouth.  Sweetness.  He could feel his skin become electrified starting at his mouth and spreading through his whole body.  He slid his hand underneath the top of her bathing suit to rub soothingly over her back.

"You're beautiful," Ken complimented appraisingly before swallowing any reply she might have made in a drowning kiss.  The press of her body against his filled him with contentment.

A knock sounded on the door.  "Five more minutes, you two!" the giddy voice of the woman who'd let them to the changing rooms sang out.  "Just leave your things in there, I'll put them away."  Her footsteps receded away into the party noise.

Ken groaned in disappointment as Kaoru broke the kiss they'd been sharing.  "Should we join the party?" she asked.

"You're right," Ken admitted.  "Don't worry about trying to get information.  I'll do that.  Just act natural and have a good time."

Kaoru nodded as Ken released her and unlocked the door, holding it open for her.  It was time to party.

**A/N – Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of Silver Cross!  I know it was mostly WAFF, but as the next chapter will be mostly action, I thought Kenshin and Kaoru should get some quality time together, even if part of it was with Saitou.  Hope you review!  Question:  One reviewer commented that I should change the rating to R.  Agree?  Disagree?  I want your opinion.  That said, here are the promised reviewer shout-outs.**

**Black Chiney: Yes, I too get too lazy to log in.  I'm just glad you weren't too lazy to review.  I'll try to update sooner. *nods head up and down vigorously***

**EEevee****: I'm glad you liked Kaoru's apology to Saitou.  I was trying to make it characteristic of my version of her.  I hope your Spring Break turned out okay in the end.**

**Rinfirithiel****: Whew!  I'm glad you thought Chapter 10 was worth the wait, I can only hope that Chapter 11 was.  Thanks for not pressuring me to update!**

**Poppy2:  Yes, there will be beach party fun in the near future.  I wish I was at a beach party…**

**kenshin's****-angel: Yup.  They're officially together.  Well, to each other, if not to the rest of the world.**

**Angi****-chan: Glad you can't wait to read more!**

**aNiMePeRfEcT****:  I love the Megumi laughter touch.  Yes, I did finally update, didn't I? *pats self on back***

**Koishii**** Sweet: I'm glad you like the Kenshin/Kaoru moments.  It's great talking to you on AIM. ^_^**

**Galenahaiel****: A reviewer of few words.  At least I know you like it!**

**ixchen****: Glad you loved it.  Here's the update you were hoping for.**

**Bizzare**** Ninja Silence: Oooh, Aryanne-sama.  You flatter me.  Thanks for the three reviews.  I'm glad you stumbled across 'Silver Cross.'**

**Jade Catseye:  I inspired you?  Wow.  I'm honored.  Yup, I decided to make Kenshin and Kaoru get together soon because I just didn't want to deal with all the misunderstandings between characters to stall their relationship development or anything.  And about Ken not being 'that oroing idiot', hey, I like bad boys too. hehehe**

**Saravati****: Kenshin and Kaoru are really cute together!  Cool that you picked up on the waking up thing.  I don't know if anyone else did, and you will definitely see Kenshin and Kaoru together in the future!**

**BelleDayNight****: It really took four hours for you to read 'Silver Cross'?  Wow.  It's 165 pages single spaced in Word Perfect right now.  Do you really think it should be rated R?  I didn't think it was that bad…**

**Kyia**** Star: Sanosuke is a funny character, well he's got great comic potential and is fun to write about.  Glad you liked the way I developed him.**

**chibiBattousai****: Yay!  Another person who likes the flashbacks with Sano enough to point them out specifically.  I try to make them funny.  Glad it's working.**

**Sapphire Princess: One of the best vampire/Kenshin fics?!! I'm honored.  I didn't know it was that good!  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for inflating my ego. ^_^**

**Naiya****-chan:  A being tired.  I know that story.  Thanks for commenting even through a fog of sleep!  Sorry it took so long for me to update.**

**Yuna****: Glad you loved 'Silver Cross'.  "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."  That cracked me up.**

**Hitokiri-miao**** miao: Thanks for forgiving me.  I know you've been reading 'Silver Cross' for a while.  I'm glad you think it's good enough to stick to!**

**Silver Warrior: You know, that's a good question.  I'll have to figure it out when the time comes.  That's going to be such a sticky situation.  I'm dreading writing it because everyone's feelings are going to be hurt. Sigh.**

**the**** sacred night:  Wow.  That's about the longest review anyone has ever given me.  Thank you!  About the Kaoru, hentai thing, she may be born and raised in the States, but she's still fluent in Japanese from her home life, like many people are whose parents are from overseas.  Besides, hentai is more fun to say, so I took a little poetic license, and made Kaoru share that opinion too.  Thanks so much for the comments, especially the ones about the night element.  That's a great tip.  I love it when people give me suggestions on how to improve my writing.  I guess I'm like Yahiko, in that I basically suck right now compared to many authors, but want to become one of the best!**

**rebuttal101: You're inflating my ego.  Stop!!!  No one ever described one of my chapters as gorgeous before. *sniff sniff***

**Angel338: Can't answer that.  Kenshin's not going to force Kaoru into anything, and he doesn't want her to become one any more than she does, but I guess something could happen.  That would be horrible for Kaoru though… Thanks for the review!**

**gestoordeann****: No problem about reviewing your story, thanks for reviewing mine!**

**Mishorou**** Mie:  Ah, another review of few words.  Glad you loved it!**

**Sakura Takashi:  You love it?  You flatter me too much.  Glad you're enjoying it though.**

**Kenshin's Demon: Thanks for the compliments on how I portray the characters.  I'm glad they're realistic.**

**Videl621: How Sou will take it… Yeah, I'm not looking forward to how he'll take it.   I mean, he loves her.  There's no way he can possibly take it well.**

**stoictimer****: Don't worry.  I'm not going to give up on 'Silver Cross' any time soon.  There are so many other stories in my head, but I'm not going to write them until 'Silver Cross' is finished, so put your worries aside.  I looked at your favorite list.  The stories are so good!  I'm honored to be on it.**

**yuyufan**** kurama: Haha is what you call your mother in Japanese, just very very formal.  I figured that fit Atsuko, Sou's sister, in this particular situation, just part of her character.  It kind of distances her from her mother because she's not pleased with her actions.  Okasaan is what she would normally call her. (Forgive my spelling if it's wrong.)**

**Whew!!!  That took a while.  As I'm lazy, I probably won't be doing that again for a while, but I felt that people needed some personal feedback, since I never reply directly.  Just letting you all know I read and appreciate your reviews.  Very, very much.**

**That said, please review again if you have the time! **


	12. Glaring and Alcohol

**A/N – My freshman year of college is finally over and I didn't do so bad if I don't say so myself. Now I can finally write 'Silver Cross' all summer and finish this story. Sadly, I'm not close to finishing it, but hey, I'm getting there. Thanks to all the reviewers who were so patient with me:**

**Blue Star, chibiBattousai, EEevee, blue jeans, JML, Kyia, Sakura Takashi, Regan84, Saravati, Black Chiney, Koishii Sweet, Videl621, ixchen, Mishorou Mie, Silver Warrior, Bizzare Ninja Silence, stoictimer, Sagitarious Devil, crasyducky, Annabella5, Hitiokiri-miao miao, Jupiter's Light, Sapphire Princess, Poppy2, the sacred night, pruningshears, BlueEyedDemon90, Miroku the Virtous Monk, Lazy Lime, Go Naruto!!, alex, Kenshin's Demon, kenshin's-angel**

**Disclaimer - sigh Once again, I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.**

****

****

**  
**

**Silver Cross**

****

**  
Chapter 12 – Glaring and Alcohol**

_  
I freakin'__ hate ticks.  
Why are ticks bothering you? It's not like you've got blood running through your veins.  
I don't know! Probably because I just fed or something, shitty little bloodsuckers. Don't they know I worked hard for this blood?_

  
"What took you so long? The good doctor's not too happy to see us. He's putting up a fuss," Jineh informed them, annoyed.

Soujiro heard nothing but muffled outraged yelling coming from the room behind the door. Light spilled out into the dark hallway. 'Not too happy' was an understatement. The man sounded furious.

Shishio did nothing more than smirk. "We ran into a few vampires along the way. I'm sure the doctor didn't mind waiting. He'll be more than happy to see me after so long. Guard the door while my nephew and I have a talk with the man, would you, Jineh?" he asked casually, already unlatching the chain lock and opening the door.

"No problem. I don't have much of a wish to see that guy again any time soon. Good luck with the old fart," Jineh spat in a corner and went to gaze out the window pensively. Soujiro hoped he was watching for vampires. Taking a deep breath and stealing himself against what might lie inside the room with the doctor, he followed his uncle inside.

"Close the door behind you," Shishio ordered Sou smoothly. "Ah, Dr. Gensai. It's a pleasure to see you again after so many years."

"Makoto Shishio! What are you doing here?! You're disrupting my medical practice. This is private property. You do not have the authorization to enter," the man blustered.

Soujiro couldn't see him yet. His uncle's body was blocking his view.

"Please, doctor, let's sit down and talk over this like calm individuals. I only want to know a few things from you," Shishio said smoothly, taking a seat at the table. Soujiro was finally able to see the doctor. He was a small gray-haired man who only stood about five feet tall. What looked like normally friendly features, were contorted in a fierce frown. Soujiro felt bad that they were intruding on the man's peace, but if this man could help find Kaoru, he had to support Shishio in grilling him for information.

The man let out an angry puff and made no move to sit, glaring down at Shishio. "I refuse to be your informant any longer, Shishio. I'm done with that now. You know I treat vampires as well as humans now. I would have thought you'd want to cut ties with me after you discovered that."

"It's true that I am against that particular nasty habit of yours, Gensai, but I'm willing to overlook it for the time being. If, of course, you tell me what I need to know."

"Not all vampires are evil creatures. You know most of that as well as I do. I don't know why people like you insist on hunting them down and destroying them." The little man's voice shook with frustration and anger.

Shishio waved a hand in annoyance, dismissing what the other man had said. "You assume too much. I'm not here to kill a bunch of vampires, just one. If you help me find him, I promise I won't bother you again."

The man narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. "Why does this one vampire mean so much to you?"

"Allow me to introduce my nephew, Soujiro Seta."

The man seemed to take in the fact that Soujiro was there for the first time. He gave him a glance and turned his eyes back to Shishio. "What does he have to do with anything?"

Shishio sighed. "I'm finding this vampire for him."

"So you're raising another generation of vampire hunters, is that it?" the man asked indignantly. "Scum, all of you, the whole family."

A dangerous glint came to Shishio's eyes. "I'll thank you kindly not to insult my family, Gensai. I'll admit I'm scum by your standards, but my family is innocent in all matters concerning the vampire culture. Leave them out of this."

The small man nodded. "Fair enough, but what does the boy have to do with all this?"

"Come here and explain yourself, Soujiro," Shishio ordered.

Soujiro did as he was asked and stepped forward to the table so that he was beside his uncle. "Soujiro Seta, sir," he introduced himself, careful to nod politely to his elder. He wanted Dr. Gensai to get a good impression of him if he held information that could lead them to Kaoru. Not knowing what else to do, he started immediately explaining their situation. "The other day I was in Japan with my family visiting my relatives when my girlfriend called me and told me this story about how she was in LA with a vampire trying to find a dark one and kill him." Soujiro ignored the slight intake of breath from Dr. Gensai. "I thought she was crazy at first, but as she told me her story, I began to believe her. So when my grandmother was going to visit Uncle Shishio, I went along, because he's the person in the family to go to for weird situations. She had told me the vampire's name was Ken and with only that information, my uncle was able to confirm that what she'd told me was true and even round up two other people who were close on his trail for different reasons. All I want to do is find this vampire named Ken because he'll at least know where my girlfriend is if she's not still with him. She never called me back like she said she would and I'm worried that something may have happened to her. Please sir, I need your help to find her and bring her away from here with me."

The doctor sat down at the table across from Shishio with a weary sigh. "I don't know who this 'Ken' vampire is, but if they're trying to find the dark one, then I know where they must be right now. There's a party on the coast that a lot of information will be floating around at. I'm sure this Ken fellow will be there."

"When and where?" Shishio asked, leaning forward.

"It's going on right now at the Fairview mansion. I'm sure you know where that is, Shishio."

"Well thanks, old man. That wasn't too hard now, was it?" Shishio asked with a smirk, standing.

"You're right. It's disturbing how easy it is to betray a people who have trust in you," the old doctor agreed bitterly, staring down at the table.

"What's done is done. Don't dwell on it Gensai. At any rate, I won't be bothering you any longer in this lifetime. Because you helped my nephew, I'll do that for you at least," Shishio informed him airily, turning and exiting out the doorway.

Soujiro bowed once to the doctor. "Thank you, sir."

The man looked up at him blearily. "Don't. You may not like what you find when you find her. And in any case, I don't want your thanks, kid. Just see to it that your uncle never comes back to haunt me and get yourself and the rest of your friends off my property."

Soujiro saw then that there would be no uneasy truce, no amicable parting of the ways. Since he was a cheerful person at his most basic level, it dampened his spirit a little, but the man had told him where he could find Kaoru. Soujiro couldn't help but smile, even in the face of the man's hate and bitterness. In a matter of hours he and Kaoru would be out of LA and on a jet to Japan.

_   
Lately I have a fascination with peanut butter.  
You mean like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?  
Yes, but also peanut butter and pretzels, peanut butter and bagels, peanut butter and Oreos, peanut butter and ice cream, peanut butter and honey on a spoon, peanut butter on cookies, stuff like that.  
Wow.  
I know._

  
"Where'd your date go? He was pretty hot," a sultry voice said in Kaoru's ear.

She couldn't help but jump. She hadn't been aware anyone was standing so close to her. But indeed there was someone, and that someone was an elegant woman a few inches taller than her sipping a margarita. "Oh, he just went to get me a drink," Kaoru managed to stammer out.

She wasn't sure if this woman was human or vampire. She sure wished she knew some way to tell the difference, but it was virtually impossible when all the vampires seemed to have fed recently. No one she'd seen so far had looked unusually pale, meaning they needed to feed, and there were too many people who'd had too much alcohol, meaning their faces were red and she couldn't tell if they were red from alcohol, or red from just having fed. This woman looked human, and even if she was a vampire it wasn't like she could take a bite out of Kaoru in front of all the people at the party, Kaoru reasoned.

"Are you here with someone?" Kaoru asked back politely.

"Yes, but I think he went off to find a meal." The woman tilted her head and gazed at her sideways. She took a sip from her drink. A drunken girl ran between them, giggling, followed by a young man who was laughing equally has hard. "They're running all around the place, you know. Well, at least for him."

This woman was acting nothing less than spooky by Kaoru's estimation. Did that mean that her date was a vampire, but she wasn't? Confused, she couldn't think of anything to say, so she just mustered up an uneasy laugh and left it at that. Where the heck was Kenshin?

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked mildly. "It's quite a party here."

Kaoru shrugged. "It's okay." The woman was making her feel like an awkward little girl, standing there so casually in a black string bikini. There was no way Kaoru could ever look relaxed wearing something as skimpy as that, but the woman moved with the easy confidence of someone wearing pants and a long sleeved shirt.

"I think I just heard my date calling me. Maybe we'll meet again?" she asked.

"Sure," Kaoru agreed uneasily.

The woman smiled politely and turned away into the crowd, jet black hair swaying behind her. Kaoru stared after her until she had disappeared towards the center of the crowded party.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't have you kicked out!" a drunken voice demanded. "Damn party crasher."

Snapped from her daze, Kaoru turned to find the owner of the voice. It was a tall man with long black hair who clutched a jug of some kind of alcohol to his chest as he lumbered along in his swimming trunks. No one paid much attention to his ranting as he followed an exasperated Ken towards her.

Wordlessly, Ken handed her the drink in his left hand – what looked like a red wine – and turned to face him. The man looked her up and down. Kaoru felt her face turning red from embarrassment, then anger when his gaze lingered on her legs and climbed slowly, too slowly up. The man was at least ten year's older than her!

"Hey, this is a good reason," he slurred.

"I don't appreciate being looked at like I'm a Barbie doll you want to undress," Kaoru said crossly.

Ken couldn't help but notice the cute pout on her face. He shook his head slightly. Now was not the time to get sentimental. "Hiko, you're drunk."

"You think I don't know that," the man asked incredulously. "That's the whole reason I throw parties like this, so I can get drunk with a valid excuse."

Kaoru huffed out another annoyed breath. So the host of the party was nothing but a drunken old man. She doubted he would throw them out, but drunk people were hard to predict sometimes, and she'd never come across a drunk vampire. Even the ones at the club in New York had been reasonably sober. She had a feeling it took a lot for a vampire to get drunk and didn't want to begin to think of how much alcohol this 'Hiko' man must have consumed to get to this stage in his drinking. She watched the exchange between Ken and the host with interest. Ken was going to have his way in the end because he was smarter than this man when he was sober and certainly much smarter when 'Hiko' was piss drunk.

"You shouldn't," Ken replied blandly. "Everyone knows you have a loose tongue when you're drunk. That's why no one tells you anything. They know you'll spill their secrets sooner or later, and probably to the wrong people."

"Eh, who are you to tell me this? You're just a kid, even by vampire standards. And you probably won't live much longer, not with all the stuff I'm hearing about you."

Ken was only mildly surprised. Word from Ayame's spread fast. It was only natural that his old teacher should know when he was in town first. Ayame had probably sent one of her employees running from her restaurant to tell Hiko.

Hiko smirked. "It's not all Ayame's doing, kid. I knew you were in town before her people informed me."

Ken didn't see how that could be true; unless Hiko had formed ties with the Juppongatana in the years he'd been away from California. "Liar," he accused. It was better to assume Hiko was with the Juppongatana than the alternative – that he was with the dark one.

"The dark one knows you seek it, and I know my resources."

"So the dark one is somewhere in the LA area," Ken said, almost to himself. He could finally be sure that he'd made the right decision to come to California instead of flying off to Europe.

"Sure as hell," Hiko bellowed, taking a deep swig of whatever alcohol he had in his jug.

Kaoru was just beginning to piece together the roles in the relationship playing out in front of her. "This Hiko guy is with the dark one?" she asked, not hiding the disgust that crept into her tone.

Hiko spit his alcohol ten feet out in front of him. In that moment it seemed as if everyone was a vampire as they moved with inhuman speed and grace away from the disgusting projectile. Kaoru felt Ken grab her arm and yank her out of the way as she turned her head to look behind her and witnessed everyone steeping swiftly out of the way without missing a beat to the music pounding overhead. Hiko subsided into coughing and the party guests continued mingling as if nothing had happened.

"I don't think so," Ken said in her ear.

It took Kaoru a moment to realize that he was replying to her question. If Ken was right, then there was no doubt that Hiko was probably ticked off at her assumption and that was why he had spit out all his alcohol, and towards her, she observed dryly. "Dumb lecherous old man," she muttered. He deserved to feel offended after the way he'd looked her up and down. She felt Ken chuckle next to her as he released her arm. At least someone thought it was funny.

"Would you mind clearing up a few things for us?" Ken asked once Hiko had stopped coughing.

"If I know the answer, I'll tell you," Hiko replied blandly glaring in Kaoru's direction.

Kaoru glared back. There was no way this man was going to intimidate her into backing down or taking back her accusation. She took a sip of the drink Ken had given her. She'd somehow managed not to spill it dodging Hiko's spit attack. It was red wine, and just sweet enough to appeal to her taste. She stopped herself from forgetting about Hiko entirely and taking a big gulp of it.

Ken was surprised that Hiko was being childish enough to argue shamelessly with Kaoru, even if he was drunk. The girl simply inspired something deep down to let go inside you. It was too bad what she inspired in Hiko was his pouting inner child. And it didn't help that he was drunk.

"What do you know about the dark one?"

"Too broad a question," Hiko refused, still glaring at Kaoru.

Ken sighed. So he was going to be difficult. "What do you know about where the dark one is in California right now?"

"Somewhere outside of LA, in the mountains. It moves from place to place, never still. Sometimes it comes into the city. Even I can feel it from way out here then. Most vampires hide or flee the city as quickly as they can, with the exception of the Juppongatana," Hiko paused to smirk. "Myojin is not happy when this happens. He knows the dark one will attack his base sooner or later. In a few more nights he will have to call in his reserves from around the world to help defend LA."

That explained why Myojin wanted Ken to kill Tomoe at least; he couldn't spare a man from the Juppongatana for fear the dark one would attack. If that happened, he would need every single vampire under his command. No wonder he didn't want to risk Saitou being injured by a woman as dangerous as Tomoe Yukishiro. Saitou's strength was better used in the fight against the dark one. Ken wondered if he could afford to wait until the Juppongatana was attacked to kill the dark one, or if he should take the initiative and seek it out alone. The sooner he killed Tomoe Yukishiro, the sooner the Juppongatana would stop watching him so keenly. If they dropped their guard long enough for him to discover the location of their headquarters, he could sneak in when the dark one and its forces attacked and kill the dark one there.

Hiko took another long draught of the alcohol from the bottle. Kaoru took another not so small sip of her wine. They resumed glaring at each other.

"Who's the new woman that joined with the dark one?" Ken asked, hoping Kaoru would remain silent and not antagonize Hiko so he could get as many answers from him as possible.

"I don't know who she is, only that she's one dangerous vampire to cross. She hasn't officially joined the dark one though, so she's not sporting the tattoo we all know and love so much. There's no way of telling it's her if you happen to run into her."

"What's the dark one planning?"

Kaoru finished off her wine and handed the empty glass to a random waitress that happened to be walking by with a tray.

"Besides the taking over of the Juppongatana? I have no clue short term, but long term it's a takeover of the vampire world. After it succeeds with that it'll make vampires known to the human culture and start taking over that species. So it's the same old rule the world crap."

It was just as Ken had suspected. The dark one was neither human, nor vampire, but something worse. He didn't know if he could ever hope to defeat it, but there was nothing left for him to do in the end but try. There was no way the Juppongatana could defeat the dark one unless they had inside information on it, and since they and Hiko weren't exactly on the best of terms, he doubted that was the case.

"Who's in league with the dark one in LA?" Ken asked. He had to get as much as he could out of Hiko before the man sobered up or one of his people came over and shut him up.

"It's all very quiet. I'm not sure, but I do know that there's a big ex-monk, a woman named Yumi that specializes in poisons, an ex-pirate who's quite the whiz with nun chucks, and a young man from Germany. They're all vampires of course. I don't know who the others are, or the new woman who just joined their leagues."

Ken had a suspicion about the monk. It was probably Anji – the man who had taught Sano his 'futai no kiwami' punch technique. He had no clue who the others were. In any case, Hiko's party had certainly been worth the trouble it took to drive out to the coast. He had enough information to start looking in the usual places for people who would know more detailed information. Tomorrow night he would take care of Tomoe, and then be free to begin his hunt in earnest for the dark one. When was the last time he had fed? The first night he and Kaoru had come to LA. After he took Kaoru back to the apartment, he would go out to feed and then come back for Kaoru and pay a little visit to a certain man who was hopefully still alive.

Hiko had either grown impatient with Ken's questions or the fact that Kaoru wouldn't back down, because he decided he was tired of waiting. So promptly, he leaned forward, slung an arm around Kaoru's waist, and pulled her to him. "So what do I get in return for answering these questions?" he asked, leering down at Kaoru.

"What are you implying," Kaoru yelled, back-slapping him.

Hiko didn't even budge from his spot.

Ken was in shock.

Kaoru felt a hand drifting, drifting, until it was touching her butt. This old drunk vampire with no manners what so ever was touching her butt! With a roar, she drew back and punched him as hard as she could in the face. He released his hold on her immediately and she slipped from his hold, watching as he staggered back. Her knuckles stung, her fingers shook, her whole hand ached from the force of her blow, but Hiko didn't look like he was taking it that well either. Kaoru was thankful her guy friends in college had made sure she could punch.

Ken was still in shock. Petite, delicate, fragile, human Kaoru had just socked Seijuro Hiko in the face, and there was no denying that man's head was hard.

Kaoru didn't bother to retreat back towards Ken. She was sick and tired of retreating back towards Ken. Sooner or later she had to establish the fact that she was a living, breathing, human who was entirely capable of sticking up for herself in a vampire ruled society. Sooner my as well be now, because she was sick and tired of waiting for later. She raised her arms in a defensive stance and placed her feet accordingly.

Much to Kaoru's surprise, Hiko did no more than laugh when he recovered from her punch enough to stand straight and look down at her once again. It looked like he was finally sober.

"What's your problem?" she asked suspiciously.

He kept laughing.

"Don't ignore me. I asked you a question." Kaoru could feel her face getting red again. This time she couldn't attribute it all to anger. The wine was affecting her as well. She didn't hold her alcohol well at all.

"I just got punched in the face by a little human girl in a bathing suit with a mean right hook," Hiko bellowed out through his laughter. "And it actually hurt! There's no justice in the world after all. Good luck with her, Ken. You'll need it." With that Hiko turned away and disappeared into the crowd back towards the mansion.

Kaoru slowly released her body from its defensive stance. He was gone for good then. Now it was time to lay into Ken. She turned to him, furious. "Why did you let him do that to me?"

Ken was staring at her as if he was in shock. He seemed taken aback that her anger was directed towards him. He had better be taken aback. It was best that he possess a healthy fear of her when she was angry.

"Do you know how disgusting it feels to have some drunken, lecherous, stinky, old man touching your ass," Kaoru yelled at him. "And you just stood there!" She noticed several males giving Ken sympathetic looks. He seemed to snap out of his daze in a split second.

"You've got no right to yell at me. It's not like you can't take care of yourself. That right cross would have knocked a normal man unconscious," Ken observed crossly, his tone at normal levels.

Kaoru took the hint and lowered hers. "I seriously doubt that. Next time, I need to know that you've got my back and you won't freeze up on me."

"There won't be a next time."

"With all the crazy people you force me to hang around, there will be a next time."

Kaoru glared at Ken.

Ken glared at Kaoru.

"Why can't we all just get along?" a girl asked, cheerfully butting into their conversation. "My boyfriend and I are trying to get a game started in the water. You two want to join in? You both look like you need to cool off. It'll be fun," she coaxed.

Ken turned to her coldly. "No thanks. We were just leaving – "

"I'd love to," Kaoru cut him off. She figured she deserved some fun after that little episode with Hiko.

The girl's face brightened even more if that was possible. She reminded Kaoru a little of Misao. "Great! Just follow me," she said, leading the way to the shore.

Kaoru only half listened to her chatter. She knew Ken was following, what other choice did he have, but perhaps she shouldn't have agreed to go with the girl. If Ken had plans for the evening, this might hamper whatever he had meant to do. After all, they only had so much time before sunrise. Still, it would be nice to hang around young people for a change, not that she was tired of being with Ken. With all this girl's friendly gestures, surely there was no way she could be a vampire.

Before Kaoru knew it she was in the midst of a dozen or so other girls, swimming out to sea. The goal for the girls was to evade their partner, while the goal for the guys was to find their date the quickest. Each round there was one man and one woman who won. Their prize was a glass of wine and a hors devours served to them by their losing date. It was really a game for couples, a game Kaoru was determined to win. Coming up for air, she spotted Ken swimming with strong strokes towards her. She was caught, but could he catch her? Most likely he would unless she could come up with some kind of plan. Taking a deep breath, Kaoru dove underwater again and swam as far as she could in the opposite direction before coming up for air once again.

There was no way she could form a plan out in the middle of the ocean. And she wasn't the best of swimmers. She was getting tired. Kaoru glanced towards the shore. She was farther out than she'd thought. The current must have pulled her out at some point. She'd drifted down the shore a bit from the party. She had just enough energy to get back, but first she had to float a little to store up all her reserves. Kaoru no longer cared that Ken was going to catch her. She just wanted to be back on dry land. She watched silently as he swam up to her and stopped close, only a foot away, and treaded water as well.

"I don't know what you want me to say," he began quietly. "I'm sorry Hiko touched you, but you have to understand that seeing him is like the days when I first became a vampire again. He makes me feel like I'm twelve."

What did that have to do with Ken letting some huge vampire pick her up and practically violate her in front of him? Kaoru remained silent.

Ken had no choice but to continue on with his explanation. "He helped me adjust to the change a few months after I was turned. It's because of Hiko that I was able to eventually function on my own as a vampire. He's a great man, but he gets like that when he's drunk." There was another long moment of silence. "I won't let it happen again, Kaoru. I won't let anyone touch you like that, not even him, as long as I am breathing."

Kaoru sighed. She probably had been a little harsh on Ken, but how else could she have reacted. She'd been hurt that he hadn't even tried to do anything to save her. "I understand now. I just wish you'd tell me before I jump to conclusions," Kaoru frowned. She understood, but she was a little unsettled that Ken's feelings for her could be cast aside so easily by a person who brought a memory from the past to him. "Let's get back to shore." She turned and began the swim away. She was cold, and she'd rather talk in the car on the way back, or at least when she was dry and safe.

Ken watched Kaoru's slight body as she cut through the waves. He had a hard time reading her emotions because he couldn't feel her heartbeat in the water. The sounds of the ocean drowned out her soft breaths from his ears and the many currents and underwater creatures interfered with the vibrations she caused as she moved through the water. He was essentially blind to her, as if he was only human once again, as he'd been centuries ago. Ken hated swimming with a passion. Trust Hiko to be the one who went and threw beach parties all the time, the one who had so many enemies that he needed the ocean as a means to slip away if they ever decided to band together and attack at once.

They reached the shore in a few minutes, but had drifted south of the party by a good quarter mile. Kaoru sighed as she wrung out her hair. There was a good distance walk ahead of her, of all the times to be barefoot on a sea shell strewn beach with no shoes. And she was cold. The night was cool, only in the mid-seventies, and the ocean had been cold. It was still the beginning of the summer after all. The ocean wouldn't be tolerable until August, and then only during the day. She shivered. There was no sun to evaporate the water and dry her off, cloaking her in a blanket of heat. She turned back to the ocean in time to see Ken walk in from the water dripping wet, his ling hair still in its casual pony tail at the base of his neck, clinging to his back. Her eyes dropped to his chest muscled for a moment and Kaoru felt her breath catch. She looked away down the beach to calm her suddenly racing heart. Far away she could see two dark figures strolling calmly down the beach towards them. Probably a couple headed towards the party.

Ken's voice broke into her thoughts. "Kaoru."

Her head snapped back to him, the dark couple a half mile away forgotten.

"Kaoru, we have to get back to the city so I can drop you off while I go and feed."

"But you just fed last night," Kaoru protested, confused. She watched him as he walked from the waves towards her.

Ken sighed. "I know, but I need to be at full strength to face Tomoe tomorrow."

Kaoru crossed her arms and shivered as the wind picked up strands of her wet hair and swirled them around her body. "Why can't I just come with you?"

"I'd rather not have company," Ken said steadily, stopping to stand in front of her.

"Don't you trust me?" she asked, staring up at him. His wet bangs hung down in front of his eyes, preventing her from making eye contact."

"I do, but it's better for you if you don't come."

"Why?"

He'd hoped she wouldn't ask. "There might be other vampires. We tend to get excited after we've fed. I don't know if I could protect you." He was almost afraid to meet her eyes. Kenshin Himura, Himura the Battousai, was afraid to meet a woman's eyes. Almost, the spark of pride within him added, almost. He reached a hand up and peeled the bangs away from his face. Her navy blue eyes were so dark they were almost black. She wasn't broadcasting any emotion in particular. Her arms hugged her body. She was obviously cold, a sensation Ken had plenty of experience with, especially at the times when he needed to feed, but had no access to warm blood. Those times the bone–chilling cold seeped into his body and soul, freezing him until he was finally able to feed again and be warm for those brief hours when he was high from the new blood flowing through his veins.

"I'm not happy," her voice broke into his thoughts.

What did she mean, she wasn't happy? Did she mean she wasn't happy with him, that she wanted to go back to her boyfriend and be away from him forever? Did she mean Ken didn't make her happy?

"I'm not happy with this life, Ken."

She came close to him and leaned against his chest. He encircled her body with his arms, holding her against him. Was this the last time he would hold her? No. He could force her to stay. She couldn't leave until he'd done the Juppongatana's bidding and killed Tomoe anyway. She entwined her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. Her body was wet and cold all over from the ocean.

"I don't know how you did it for so many years. We're constantly on the run. It's so much stress just to keep on living."

She paused. Her voice against his chest had been muffled, each syllable a hot puff of air against his cold skin. She looked up at him in the dark, her face lit by the moon that had broken out from the clouds.

"I need you to be my strength, Ken. Tell me I can do it."

She needed him? If only she knew how reversed the roles were, how much he'd been depending on her lately, then she'd know that he wasn't fit to give anyone strength. The years had taken their toll. Ken had never been satisfied being a vampire, unlike most. Even Sano had been reconciled to his fate after Megumi died. He'd even started to love life again. But Ken had never been truly satisfied with his place in life, not since he'd been turned. Kaoru had brought warmth to the doorstep of his soul again, but she could never make him love life as a vampire. Something in him still longed to be human, longed to feel the sun on his skin, taste Kaoru's lips without being conscious of the blood beating underneath them. He was tired of the call of blood invading his thoughts, tired of existing in a human world where even the sun hated him. When the dark one was destroyed, what reason would he have to go on? None. When the sun rose the morning after the dark one's demise, Ken would be there to finally see its light once again, to feel the pounding heat of its rays on his body. Kaoru couldn't need him as much as she thought she did, or he wouldn't be able to do that, what he'd been planning now for ten years, since Sano had died. She was wrong to place her strength in him when he drew what he needed from her daily. It was better Kaoru place her faith in her God than in Ken.

"You can do it," he told her. "Your Lord is with you."

She smiled. "Thanks, Ken. He told you just what to say to make everything alright."

For a moment Ken wondered who 'He' was before he realized she was referring to her God.

"He's your God too," she told him, her soft voice made more delicate by the wind that carried it away on the breeze.

"No. He's a God for humans only." Vampires are enemies of the light, he added silently, therefore enemies of God.

"I hope you're wrong," she said simply. "Anyway, I'm happy again."

"What?" he asked confused. Women and their mood swings.

She smiled, but not at his confusion. She simply seemed satisfied with herself. "I said I'm fine now. Let's go and find our clothes so we can get out of here and you can feed," she finished, pushing away.

He held her fast within the circle of his arms, staring down at her. What was it in her that allowed her to forget so easily the pain she'd been feeling? What allowed her to talk so lightly of him feeding? Would he ever find out?

She squirmed in his arms under the scrutiny of his gaze. "What?" she asked. He could tell she was a little uneasy, but she still met his gaze evenly. But he'd said back when they had first met up with Saitou that he would tell her later. He didn't want to have a serious discussion until they were back in the apartment, relatively safe, until after he'd fed. Ken lifted an arm and let it touch her cold cheek, then drew it down to her chin. He had an undeniable urge to kiss her. He doubted he could go for a whole day without kissing her. He tilted her chin towards him, watching as she closed her eyes, her mouth slightly open, waiting for the kiss. Her lips were warm, her fingers gentle as she entwined them in his hair. He wondered how he'd ever been satisfied with another woman before he'd met her. Had he ever been satisfied? No. This woman, who smelled like a fine mixture of the sea and the soap she used in the shower, this woman, who's sensuous body was pressed against his in her suit, who's hands in his hair were giving him a heady feeling, this woman, from whom a single kiss was better than a blood high from the most tender human veins, this woman satisfied him. And he hadn't even had sex with her yet. Now what would that feel like? Ken grinned.

"What's so funny?" she whispered against his mouth.

Right then Ken could have passed out from sheer joy, which would have been very uncharacteristic of him, but any man might have done the same thing in his situation. If only she knew, she would probably backslap him just as she'd done Hiko less than an hour ago. It wasn't as if Kaoru didn't have morals, morals which he would certainly uphold or he would never be able to forgive himself. Still, who could blame him for fantasizing once in a while, granted he fantasized just a little more often than once in a while. It wasn't as if he zoned out in public, or in front of other people. That would not have been good for his image at all.

"You're not paying attention to me," Kaoru pouted, noticing the far off look in Ken's eyes. Insensitive man, and after he'd been the one to initiate the kiss in the first place, she grumbled to herself.

"Believe me, I am," he soothed, covering her mouth with his, feeling the electricity shoot between them and intensify once again.

_  
I never saw much purpose in collecting little glass figurines. Eventually you'll have kids who will break them.  
Just as long as you don't break the one you're holding. I got that for Meme. She loves them.  
Why?  
I don't know. She thinks they're pretty. And she's a ballerina. She doesn't want to have kids. It'll ruin her career or some crap like that.  
No. I mean why shouldn't I break it?_

How much more ironic could life get? Here Soujiro stood, walking along a moonlit beach in beautiful California, with his uncle. He'd always imagined himself with a girl at this point, probably his wife by the time he made it all the way to California. Strangely enough he'd never had this dream of him and Kaoru. It somehow didn't seem right. When he thought of Kaoru, he visualized a scenario less tame. Sou dreamed of them going off and conquering the world together, not walking calmly along a beach by the shore in California. Maybe the shore in Venezuela or the Ivory Coast, but not tame California, where the only excitement came from earthquakes the natives barely even acknowledged. And vampires of course. It was hard to forget the vampires. Perhaps California wasn't so tame after all.

Sou sighed.

"What are you moping about?" his uncle asked, his gaze off across the Pacific Ocean.

Soujiro too turned his gaze towards the ocean. He wondered what his uncle saw. "Nothing."

His uncle did not reply.

"Do you want to go back to Japan?" he asked curiously.

"Not really."

"Are you ever going to go back?" he asked.

"Why should I?"

"Grandma wants to see you probably," Soujiro said lightly. "Will you pay her a visit if you're ever back in Nihon?" He turned his gaze away from the ocean. Staring across only reminded him of the way he'd left Japan in such a hurry and brought on the guilt. He didn't like it when he made his sister cry. He watched a couple rendezvousing on the beach. The girl had emerged from the ocean first, surprising him. He'd supposed she'd been carried from the party by the current. The way she walked reminded him so much of Kaoru. Then he'd seen the man come out as well, and focused on him, because that made everything less painful.

"Probably," Shishio drawled. "If she forgives me enough for taking you away to permit me seeing her, and assuming that sister of yours isn't there. I don't think she likes me very much." He laughed with no trace of mirth.

"Atsuko never has liked you, but I don't think you care very much what she thinks," Soujiro said blandly, watching as the man walked towards the girl and stopped in front of her. Perhaps they'd had a disagreement then and she was mad at him. Soujiro didn't notice any aggressive nature in the way the man walked, so he wasn't angry. But that possibility was ruled out when she walked to him and cuddled against his chest. She must be cold, Soujiro realized, having just come out of the ocean with the wind blowing. No doubt the couple had towels to dry off with at the party, but they would have to walk back to get there.

"You're right, kid. I don't. No offense though. I know you love your sister."

"Don't worry. I won't tell her," Soujiro said softly, watching as the couple embraced. They could have been on the cover of one of those romantic music CDs he always saw advertised for $9.99 on television, if they'd had the sunset at their backs that was. The light from the party wasn't exactly romantic, especially accompanied by the loud music Soujiro could hear even from this distance away.

"Are you going to keep your promise to Dr. Gensai?" Soujiro couldn't help but ask. The question had been burning in his mind ever since they'd left the old doctor's clinic.

It was Shishio's turn to sigh. "I won't lie to you, Soujiro. I'll never set foot on the old geezer's land or talk to him again, but if I need information from him, I won't hesitate to send someone. That's life, Soujiro."

"I understand," Soujiro said slowly, bowing his head to reflect. "If people need to be helped and only the doctor can give you information to help them, then I don't see what other choice you have but to turn to him." He lifted his head up to look at his uncle. "Am I right?" His uncle was still gazing at the sea.

"Precisely, Soujiro. You're learning at least. Human life will always be my first priority."

Soujiro turned his gaze back directly ahead of him. The couple was talking. Their voices drifted down to him, blown on the wind, the woman's higher pitched voice complimented by the man's lower tones. Then their voices grew softer and he could no longer hear. He swore his mind was playing tricks on him. The girl's voice had sounded so much like Kaoru's.

"That's what people like Dr. Gensai don't understand. I cannot allow something to exist that feeds off humans. As long as vampires exist, they are a danger to you and the rest of my family." Shishio's voice was low, but filled with emotion.

"I understand, Uncle," Soujiro reassured him.

"Good, kid."

Soujiro watched as the man tilted the girl's face towards his and kissed her. She slid her arms around his neck and stood on her toes in the sand to kiss him back, her loose hair sliding across the man's arms. They were in their own world, oblivious to himself and his uncle who were approaching along the beach.

"Thank you, Oji-san." Soujiro bowed his head in a deference his uncle did not see. "What are you looking at?" he asked finally.

"Why so many questions, Soujiro? You need to learn when to stay quiet," his uncle admonished, finally looking at his nephew.

Soujiro breathed a soft sigh of relief. He wasn't so distant now. "Gomen, Oji."

"Just don't let it happen again," Shishio said easily.

Soujiro nodded and glanced down the beach at the couple. They'd broken apart and were now heading towards the party hand in hand.

Shishio finally noticed the objects of his nephew's gaze. "Good thinking, Soujiro. We my as well ask this couple if we're at the right spot. If they're vampires be calm. At social things like this the two species mingle and no one's supposed to get hurt."

Soujiro nodded. "I'll get their attention then, Oji?"

"Sure, kid."

"Excuse me!" Soujiro called.

**  
A/N – There you have it, folks.**** I hope you enjoyed. And now all I have to say is thanks to the wonderful people who emailed me and told me to get sit my butt down and write this chapter, only in nicer words of course. IM me (aryanne1016) and leave a review if you have the time. Thanks!**


	13. Breakup

**A/N – A thanks to all the reviewers and readers and all the people that have me on author alert or 'Silver Cross' on their favorites list. I hope this next chapter doesn't disappoint you. A special shout-out to the reviewers:**

**BelleDayNight****, Jade Catseye, JML, De Lazy Lime, Jupiter's Light, paisita, kenshin's-angel, Hitokiri-miao miao, kawaii sakura-chan, chibiBattousai, Regan84, Silver Warrior, Western, Iram, EEevee, crasyducky, marstanuki, genocide ex-syncin, Sapphire Priestess, stoictimer, MZ.AMbER EYES, rebuttal101, Naiya-chan, Amythyst2Amber, the sacred night, Shadow Kat, pruningshears, Mishorou Mie, Saiya Winters, Blythe, Kenshin's Demon, Witchitta**

**  
Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**  
**

**  
Silver Cross**

****

********

**********  
Chapter 13 – Break-up**

_   
Ken?_

_ What?_

_ That movie I went to see kind of got to me._

_ So?_

_ So if you don't have anything to do tonight, would you mind hanging out with me?_

_ … Yes, I would mind._

_ I tried to be cool about this! You know how bad new technology used to freak me out, well this has got me freaked out. You aren't going anywhere without me!_

_ … Okay. Come on. We're going out._

_ Out? Not near any graveyards, right?_

_ Sano…_

_ Coming!_

"Excuse me!" a male voice called. Soujiro's voice called. Kaoru felt her face go pale. Soujiro was right behind her. She was too far away from the party to bolt and pretend she hadn't heard him. There was no way she could have done that anyway with Ken there. She felt horrible cheating on Soujiro with Ken, but if she just bolted then that wouldn't be staying true to Ken, making her act of cheating on Sou so much more horrible. She forced herself not to freeze on the spot as his voice came again.

"Excuse me, is that the Hiko party?"

Ken had already let go of her hand and turned around. "Yeah, you're in the right place." He was probably pointing down the beach. Kaoru could hear the neutrality in his voice. He didn't know who he was speaking to. All she wanted to do at that moment was sink down into the ground and pop up somewhere safe, like the apartment. Ken would head back there eventually and find her. If only that really was an option. This was the last place in the world she wanted to be, the absolute last place. Why hadn't Sou recognized her? Why, why, why didn't he just call her out? She would have recognized him if she was in his place.

"Thanks." He was coming closer. She had to stop him while he was still far enough away that she could step in if it came to a fight.

"My uncle and I weren't sure." Shit! His uncle! That was probably the same uncle who was a vampire hunter, the same uncle who was after Ken. How many uncles could Soujiro possibly have?

"No problem," Ken answered, his voice still casual.

Kaoru's panic was rising to the surface. How close were they now? Twenty yards? Ten? For Ken's sake, she had to say something, stop them from drawing any closer.

She took a deep breath and turned around. "Soujiro?" she asked softly.

His eyes widened. "Kaoru!" he said incredulously, blinking hard. Kaoru was here. The girl that had reminded him so much of Kaoru _was_ Kaoru! That meant the man must be – "Then you're Ken! The vampire!" Soujiro accused.

The man's pleasant features had already turned cold long before Sou came to his conclusion. Either he was an extremely quick thinker, or Kaoru had shown the vampire a picture of him or something. However, he wasn't looking at Sou, but at his uncle.

"Makoto Shishio, we meet at last."

"Kenshin Himura, the Battousai," Shishio said thoughtfully. "I've heard the legends. You're a vampire to be reckoned with."

"And you're a hunter."

The man had spat out the words like his uncle was dirt; the vampire, Sou reminded himself. He was a vampire.

"You know, I can't visualize a scenario where all of us walk away from this," Shishio said mildly. What was his uncle saying? There was no way they could risk Kaoru being endangered. At least, Soujiro hoped his uncle felt that way.

"Why are you here, Shishio?" Ken asked, eyes narrowed, stepping slightly in front of Kaoru in case the man tried something. He'd already ruled out the nephew as causing her any harm, he was supposed to be her boyfriend after all.

"By request of my nephew, Battousai. I believe you've got something of his there behind you. I'll take her by force if I have to. You know I will."

The panic flooded away, replaced by anger. So Sou's uncle thought she was nothing but a possession of the family? Nuh uh, that man had better get his facts straight, and quick. Kaoru had no qualms at doing to him what she'd done to Hiko. She stepped out from behind Ken quickly, before she could think too much about what she was doing, and before Ken could get wind of her plan and stop her.

"No one is taking me anywhere." She forced her voice to be solid and determined. She let her gaze shift back and forth between Soujiro and his uncle, to be sure both of them understood. "It's my decision to make, and I'm staying with Ken. Mr. Shishio, there is not going to be a fight. You know it wouldn't escape the notice of all the people at the party even if you did try and fight Ken. Both human and vampire would come and fight against you. No one likes a hunter."

Soujiro let the hurt flood his voice. "Kaoru, what are you saying? I came to save you and bring you away from LA."

Her gaze softened a little, but she forced her voice to remain sure and determined. "I don't need saving, Sou. You'd be killing me if you brought me away anyway."

"What are you saying? Are you in love with him?"

This was the question Kaoru had feared. How was she supposed to answer that? Ken hadn't told her he loved her. Who was she to decided his feelings for him and announce them to the world?

"I'm saying that the Juppongatana will kill me if I leave LA before Ken completes a certain task for them. I can't leave, Sou. And if you or your uncle kill Ken, then the Juppongatana will hunt me down and kill me."

"Who are the Juppongatana?" Sou asked. Kaoru felt sorry for him. He knew absolutely nothing about the vampire world. Ken was right. She had to get him out of LA and away from his uncle's influence before something bad happened to him.

"Ask your uncle," Ken spoke up. He wasn't pleased that Kaoru was the one doing the defending. He should be able to take care of her, but while he was fighting Shishio, her boyfriend could take off with her and Ken wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him.

Sou looked to his uncle for confirmation.

"She wouldn't lie about that, kid. The Juppongatana would kill for a lie like that," Shishio confirmed.

"At least come and stay with us, Kaoru. Then you'd be safe. You don't know if he'll hurt you," Soujiro insisted stubbornly.

"He won't hurt me, Sou." She sighed. "Look, we need to talk. Mr. Shishio, will you promise to stay where you are and not try to kill Ken if I talk to Soujiro privately?"

"As long as Ken doesn't try to suck my blood, I won't attack him while you're talking to Soujiro."

"Kaoru, I don't like this," Ken said in her ear. "I don't trust them with you."

"Soujiro won't hurt me, Ken," Kaoru answered in a voice just as low. "You promise not to attack Shishio, right?"

"For now," his voice growled in her ear.

"He promises not to attack you," Kaoru called out.

"He has to say it," Shishio insisted, obviously enjoying himself.

Ken snorted in frustration. "I won't attack you tonight, Shishio."

"Walk towards the road and stand by that rock, Sou. I'll be there in a minute," Kaoru instructed.

After a dubious look towards his uncle, who did nothing but shrug, Soujiro did as she'd asked. Kaoru breathed a sigh. The first part was over. Now if only Ken would actually let her walk away from him and talk to Soujiro. Turning her back on Shishio, she faced him.

"Kaoru, Shishio is not a man to be trusted," Ken said gravely, looking past her at him.

"I know, but Sou is. I know I can make this work. Just keep a close eye on him while I'm talking to Sou, will you?" she whispered.

"No. I don't like this. We're leaving," Ken decided, grabbing her wrist.

"Ken you were the one who made me see that I had to tell Sou about – about us. Nothing's going to happen. Please let me go." Kaoru was careful to use her best reassuring tone. Ken wasn't the only manipulator. She'd thrown the 'please' in for good measure.

Kaoru cheered mentally when his grip on her wrist loosened and fell away. "Fine, but the man is not going to let us just walk away. He only promised not to attack me while you're talking to Soujiro. He's going to try something as soon as you two are done."

"Then think of something while I'm talking okay? After this I just want to get our clothes back and leave. I hope they don't follow us back to the apartment."

"They won't, even if I have to knock them both unconscious with a piece of driftwood," Ken replied steadily. "Now go talk to Soujiro before you make one of them suspicious."

Kaoru nodded and walked after her boyfriend. And what a long walk it was. She was dreading reaching him. How could she tell him she didn't love him as much as she loved Ken at a time like this? Kaoru didn't have much practice dumping people, and she'd certainly never been in a relationship that lasted as long as the one with Sou had before. He'd meant a lot to her life in the past couple years. She felt dirty throwing their relationship away, even if the one she had with Ken felt so much more real, and sincere than theirs had. The distance between them had grown to the size of the Pacific Ocean, even if Sou did not realize that yet. She reached him all too soon.

He enveloped her in a hug. Kaoru was surprised that a hug from Sou still felt good. She couldn't let it last for long. That would give Sou the wrong impression and make the break up more painful for both of them. She pushed away after a few moments, out of his arms. Luckily, Sou didn't take it the wrong way. He probably just thought she wanted to start talking. If only he knew.

"Why are you staying with him, Kaoru? You know what he is. He'll hurt you the first chance he gets." Soujiro had decided to be the one to start the conversation. He put the image of the dark couple on the beach out of his mind. He didn't know all the facts yet. He was surprised when Kaoru seemed slightly annoyed. Shouldn't she be grateful that he'd come all this way to save her?

"I already told you he won't hurt me. He's saved my life, Sou."

"Is that what this is about? You feel you have to stay with him because he saved your life?" Sou almost breathed a sigh of relief. She'd kissed him out of gratitude then. "You don't, Kaoru. Come back to the hotel with me. You'll be safer there."

"I can't. I've promised to help him. You won't make me break a promise, will you?" Kaoru felt horrible dredging up the fact that she'd promised to help Ken instead of just flat out telling Sou that she preferred to stay with Ken, but she didn't want to just blurt out the whole thing to him. It was better to work up to it gradually.

Sou deflated in front of her eyes. "Can't you see that one promise doesn't matter compared to the big picture? He's a killer, Kaoru. They all are; all the vampires. I can't rest knowing you're with him."

"Who told you that?" Kaoru asked. "That's wrong. I've met vampires who I could never imagine killing anyone. And if a vampire kills a human, the other vampires kill it. Ken's not going to kill me."

"My uncle told me the truth about vampires. This Ken, the Battousai, he must have lied to you," Soujiro insisted.

"No, your uncle lied to you," Kaoru declared. "Ken's not a killer."

"He's dangerous, Kaoru. You didn't see the look in his eyes when he looked at Oji. I'm asking you to come with me and away from him."

"I have seen that look in his eyes," Kaoru told Soujiro softly. "He looked at me that way, and I'm still standing here. He didn't hurt me then and he won't hurt me in the future. You don't know him. He's more than that, Sou, more than just a vampire."

"Kaoru, you don't know what you're talking about."

"You're the one who doesn't know what they're talking about. They were all human once, all of them. Ken's more human than that uncle of yours." Kaoru couldn't hide the disdain from her voice. "I've lived with Ken for a week now. I won't lie and say it's been easy, but it's been life, and your uncle is not willing to face the fact that vampires are a part of life."

"They're not, Kaoru. They're unnatural. As you're boyfriend, I'm asking you to leave Ken and come with me."

"Do you think that title adds something extra?" Kaoru asked bitterly. She sighed. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I hate to say it like this, but I don't know how else to say it. I want to break up with you, Sou."

She winced at the look of shock that flooded across his face. There were all the emotions she'd feared: hurt, betrayal, sadness, and finally anger.

"Is it because of him?" Sou asked, his tone even.

"I won't lie to you," Kaoru began.

That was the second time tonight someone had started a sentence with those five words. Sou was getting sick of it.

"He does have a lot to do with it," she finished.

"I saw you two kissing."

"I'm sorry, Sou. I should have told you before. I know it was cheating on you." Nope, he was definitely not going to take this well.

"I didn't know it was you, though. I remember thinking it was a perfect picture, one that should go on a CD cover or maybe a calendar." He said this in a voice filled with sarcastic wonder, but his eyes were cold and calculating.

"Tell me you understood what I said, Sou, about us not being together anymore. I had to tell you. I didn't want to lead you on."

"I shouldn't have gone to Japan. I had a bad feeling about that. I should have stayed home. Maybe if I had picked you up from the Akabeko that night none of this would have ever happened."

Kaoru felt her voice tremble. "Tell me you understand," she insisted.

"Or maybe I should have listened to Atsuko in the first place and not gone out with you. If I had, I wouldn't be here now, listening to this load of crap."

Now the tears were threatening. "Sou, please tell me."

"Yup, older sister always knows best. Well now I'll know for next time."

"Sou-"

"What, Kaoru? Did you think I would be okay with this?" he asked, finally letting the anger and hurt take control of his speech. "Did you think I would say, 'Okay, well, I'm not too broken up about it, so you can run off with a vampire and be happy playing in all the blood. Don't worry about me. I was never in love with you at all, so it's okay that you've decided I'm second best. But, hey, if he ever gets staked by a hunter or hurts you or something, I'm here for you and we can start going out again.' Did you think I would react like that, Kaoru? Becausethat is bullshit."

"Sou, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you."

"It's too late for that, Kaoru. You know, I can see why you wanted to have this talk away from my uncle and your undead lover over there. It might have gotten a little awkward." His voice was still even and low. There was no way even Ken could hear what he was saying.

"Sou he's not my lover-"

"Thanks for not embarrassing me in front of them. So now I guess you want me to just fly on back to Japan and happily visit with my relatives again, huh?"

"You know me better than that-"

"I don't think I know you at all, Kaoru. You could have fucked him before you came to the party for all I know. If you did, then you're probably going to head back to wherever you two are camped out and fuck him again."

Sou, stop it," Kaoru begged weakly, finally unable to stop the tears from dripping down her face.

"What? Stop what, Kaoru? Stop ramming the truth into your head about you and Ken's relationship," he asked mockingly. "Don't worry. I'll stop. You're right. We're over. And while you're fucking him tonight, say hi for me." Soujiro stormed away, back towards his uncle. He didn't let himself care about Kaoru, or think about what he'd just said to her.

"Oji, we're going." He started trudging back down the beach in the direction they'd come from.

hishio shrugged. "I guess this is sayonara, Battousai. Until another night, sometime soon." He nodded in Ken's direction and walked away after his nephew.

Ken sighed in relief. It didn't look like Shishio and Soujiro would be causing him anymore trouble that night. He felt for Kaoru's heart beat, and his heart sank. He could feel Kaoru's distress even though his senses were distorted by the ocean. He tore his gaze from the diminishing figures of the hunter and his nephew and towards the slowly approaching Kaoru. He could see right away that she had been crying, but the tears were gone from her face and she was trying hard to look nothing but determined. It had taken her a long time to gather herself together and come to him. Silently, she took his hand in hers and pulled him so that he was facing the party. They started walking back.

_  
Hey, you're pretty quick._

_ I have to be._

_ You could be a secretary. There's no way I can type that fast._

_ … Thanks a lot._

"Kenshin Himura?" His voice was filled with wonder, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

Ken allowed a smile to grace his features. The old doctor looked like he needed it, and Ken was truly happy to see the old man. He reminded him of Sano and better days. "Yes, Dr. Gensai. Do you have a moment?"

The man visibly blinked the surprise from his eyes. He held the door wide open. "Come in, come in. Hurry up, my place is probably being watched, so you'll have to take the long way back to wherever you're going."

Ken complied with the old man's urges to hurry and stepped inside. His eyes scanned the room for intruders and escape routes, a practice he did automatically whenever he entered a new room, an old habit from the days of the war he had fought in when he was human that had not died. Satisfied there was no one around, he turned to the doctor, who was locking the door behind him.

"Why do you think someone's watching your clinic?" he asked, letting his eyes rove over the doctor's face. The last time he had seen the man, he had been much younger. Time did so much to humans; each wrinkle reminded Ken of the fact that he wasn't aging at all. He wondered how he would deal with Kaoru aging before his eyes, probably the same way Sano had dealt with Megumi.

"The hunter of the Kuragosa family, a man named Makoto Shishio, and his nephew were here a few hours ago," Dr. Gensai broke into his thoughts. "Are you familiar with Shishio? I know you know the Kuragosa family."

"Yes."

"Really?" the doctor asked curiously. Then he blanched.

"What is it?" Ken asked, instantly on the alert.

"I'm sorry, Kenshin. They were looking for you! I – I didn't realize it because they called you 'Ken', but they were looking for you and I told them about Hiko's party. Don't tell me you were there."

Well that was one mystery solved. At least Ken now knew how they'd known he was in the area. He'd been a little alarmed that he'd missed them following him or something. His skills weren't dulling after all.

"I was there. It's alright. Nothing happened," Ken assured the man.

"Then the girl's not with you anymore? Oh sorry, do you want to sit?"

"No. I won't be here long. How much did they tell you?"

"Well the nephew said most of it. He told me that his girlfriend had somehow run into you and that she was now trying to help you find the dark one. He just wanted to find her, but his uncle wanted to kill you, and Kuragosa does too of course. So I told them you were probably at Hiko's party with the promise that Shishio would never bother me again. I'm sorry, Kenshin. I never would have told him that if I knew it was you," Dr. Gensai explained.

"Don't worry about it. They're no threat to me. Forget it, doctor."

Dr. Gensai nodded; then a puzzled look came across his features. "If you didn't know it was me that told, then why did you come? You're not one to pay social calls."

"You're right. I came for information. Tell me all you can about what's been going on in LA for the past few years. I'm a little out of the loop," Ken admitted.

"Sure. It's the least I can do to repay you for telling Shishio. I really think we should sit though. This is going to take a while."

_  
Technology is scary. How did they capture the images of those people and put them on that big screen?_

_ It's like getting your picture taken._

_ But that sucks out your soul! Those poor people. They thought they were going to be actors, and look what happened._

_ Sano get a hold of yourself! Cameras don't suck out people's souls! The actors are fine._

_ I didn't know you were so naïve, Ken. Don't believe everything people tell you._

Ken had been gone for two hours. Kaoru hoped he hadn't run into trouble. She was in her night clothes, curled up on the dark blue couch trying to find something on early morning television. She'd settled for an ancient rerun of 'Happy Days.' At least it wasn't in black and white. What a wonder a shower had done for her after they'd gotten back from the beach party. As soon as they'd left the place she'd been reduced to a weak sobbing mess. Ken hadn't liked that at all, she knew, but she hadn't been able to help it. It was fortunate that no one had been around in the apartment building when they'd finally made it back because there was no way Kaoru was capable of putting up a cheerful front. She knew Ken had breathed a sigh of relief when they were safely in their apartment with the door locked. Seeing the place had only made her sob harder. Ken had awkwardly told her he was going out and to get in the shower and clean up. Not knowing what else to do, she'd spent an hour in the shower before she'd been calm enough to deal with the world again. Ken hadn't been there when she'd come out, but she hadn't really expected him to be. He knew she needed time alone. So she'd gone and gotten dressed and was now lying on the couch, flipping channels and thinking.

Kaoru had done a lot of thinking, mostly about Sou and Ken, but about her parents and friends as well. She hoped her parents were having a better summer vacation then she was, and that her friends and family weren't too disturbed that she wasn't around or answering her cell phone. Then her mind had turned back to the confrontation on the beach. Sou had said some pretty hateful things, but it was only fair. She'd come to the conclusion that she deserved them. After all, it wasn't as if she wouldn't have been just as angry as him if their roles had been reversed. What she'd done was rotten, cheating on him with another man. What was even more rotten was that she would do it again even if she had the choice to go back in time. And again. And again. That was the depth of what she felt for Ken.

_  
Why did I let you convince me to drink?_

_ Hey, it's not my fault._

_ Sano, we are now in the French army! We're lucky they kept us in that dark prison all day or we would be ash right now!_

_ Hey, it'll all work out, Ken. Just trust me._

_ I am NEVER drinking with you again, Sano._

Food at last, food at last, Ken thought, savoring the slick feel of blood sliding down his throat. He hadn't been nearly as hungry as he'd been at the most difficult times of his life as a vampire, but being around Kaoru night and day must have been putting strain on the darker side of his nature. He loved her, yes, but that didn't cancel out the fact that she was human. There was no way in heaven or hell that he would break his promise to her and drink her blood, but God, sometimes it was hard to resist, especially since she was so vulnerable all the time. He'd watched her from the corner of his eye as they were driving back, first to the car rental agency, and then as they'd hitched a taxi home. That taxi driver must have been unnerved by them. Kaoru was still crying her eyes out and Ken knew he hadn't been very comforting. In retrospect, he was lucky the cabbie hadn't been too nosy, and that the loud radio had covered up most of Kaoru's sobs. Ken wondered if she was regretting her decision, but he'd put that thought out of his mind upon further reflection. She was probably just starting the process of getting over her boyfriend. Ken had realized he didn't even know how long they'd been together. He hadn't heard what the kid had said to her, but Ken had heard the harsh tone of his voice.

The fresh blood was seeping to the corners of his body – his fingertips, his ankles, his heels, his toes. Food hadn't been able to feed this need since he'd been turned. It was hard to remember the time when food had been all he needed. And like the last time he'd fed, he could feel the string between him and Kaoru, like a rope wrapped around his waist, tugging him to her. Its thickness grew and its pull strengthened as more blood flowed into his body. The moment Ken was satiated was the moment he couldn't bear its pressure on him any longer. He drew his fangs back up into his mouth and the pressure was gone, but he could still feel Kaoru's presence, as if she was standing next to him.

Her presence was comforting. Now he knew that even if other vampires or the Juppongatana stole her from him he could always find her. Ken touched a finger to his lips. Blood. Licking his lips absentmindedly, he headed for his car, leaving the animal behind him faint and weak. It would recover in a few nights. Ken popped a piece of gum into his mouth to get rid of the taste.

_  
Nani__?!__ Why are you covered in dust?_

_ Would you believe me if I said there was a sandstorm?_

_ No. I was outside all night. There weren't any in this part of __Egypt__._

_ Damn._

_ What was that?_

_ I said…_

_ Nani__?_

_ Okay okay! I admit it! I was gambling and I lost the bet and I had to go in a pyramid and I fell into one of those traps the dumb people who built them set up and it was a pit full of sand and – and oh Ken it was so horrible!_

The sound of a key in the door reached Kaoru from her perch on the couch. She turned her head towards the door expectantly, a bit apprehensive. She'd realized at some point in her severe self-searching session that he might have taken her weeping the wrong way. He might have thought she was regretting her choice to stay with him. He might have left to give her the opportunity to gather her courage enough to leave him. He might think she wanted to leave him and that the only reason she was staying was because of the Juppongatana's threat to her life. But he might be thinking a lot of things. She only hoped he wouldn't come back and tell her to go join Sou and his uncle.

Ken slipped into the apartment; silence and stealth entering with him as they always did. His emotions weren't readable. He didn't look at her until he had locked the door behind him and put on the chain latch as well. Then he turned his full attention to her, not saying anything, simply searching her eyes with his intense gaze, his face in shadow. Kaoru felt a small smile creep on to her face. No matter how grave he looked, she couldn't help but be happy he was back. She felt the smile on her face widen as he flashed a lazy grin, the relief now apparent on his face. She scrambled up from the couch and threw herself into his arms for a hug, reassuring her soul that he was there with her.

"Are you okay, Kaoru?" Ken asked as he slid his arms around her, hugging her back. He could feel the heat of her body against his, making his skin tingle even through his clothes.

"I am now. I'm sorry I was crying before, but thanks for understanding I needed time alone to sort out my feelings," Kaoru replied, relaxing against him.

Ken breathed in the scent of her shampoo wafting up from her hair. Now was not the time for her to be apologizing for crying. He didn't want her dwelling on her break up the rest of the night anyway. When she wanted to talk to him about it, she would, be she obviously wasn't ready to discuss it, and he didn't want her crying again.

"I like this welcome," he mumbled, surprised. He'd barely had time to sit his keys down on the table before she was in his arms. The whole time he'd been gone, he'd pictured her back at the apartment, probably still crying. He had fully expected her to be crying when he came back. Yet again, Kaoru had surprised him with her resilience.

"Why'd you take so long?" Kaoru admonished, her face buried in his chest, breathing in his smell. "I was starting to worry about you."

Ken chuckled at her unashamed display of emotion. She was the only one that acted so open around him. "There was an accident on the highway, just a fender bender, but everyone had to stop and gawk, so it took me longer than I expected to get back, that's all."

"You could've called," she reminded him.

"I forgot my phone."

"You've got me acting like a fussy housewife, Ken!" she pouted, finally looking up at him.

Ken laughed some more. "Isn't that what you're supposed to be?" he asked, leaning down and effortlessly lifting her body bridal style. "Don't worry, you're my fussy housewife."

"That doesn't make me feel much better." But it did, of course it did.

"I'll make you feel better," Ken offered, trying his best to look wide–eyed and innocent.

God, he was doing a good job of it too, Kaoru thought. She couldn't help but ask, as he expected her to, "How?"

Ken dropped her onto the couch and let his body fall after her so she was pinned down underneath him. She screamed in surprise at the sudden drop.

"Shhh, you don't want to wake the neighbors."

"If I do, it's your fault," she whispered up to him, as if whispering made up for the earlier scream.

"My fault?" Ken asked with raised eyebrows.

Kaoru smiled up at him. "I'm glad you're back."

"Glad to be back, but I think you're avoiding the issue here. Why would it be my fault?" he asked, drawing close to her lips with his own, but kissing under her chin at the last second. Holding himself up with one hand, he used the other to gently reach up under her night shirt and tickle her smooth stomach with his fingers. She giggled and writhed against his touch. "Why?" he asked again.

"You made me do it," she breathed out when his fingers stilled and he withdrew his hand from her under her shirt to rest on the couch again, supporting him above her.

"That's your best answer?"

"Yup," she said cheerfully, smiling up at him. She stared up at him. He stared down at her. From the way he was grinning at her, almost laughing Kaoru thought she probably had the dopiest smile imaginable on her face, but it didn't matter. Ken was there.

"Kenshin?" she asked, trying out his full name on her tongue once again. She liked the taste of it much better than Ken, Kaoru decided. She'd try and call him Kenshin in private until she fell into the habit.

Ken didn't miss the satisfied look on her face when she called him Kenshin. It was different, but hey, he'd respond to 'hey you' if Kaoru was the one calling him.

"Why Kenshin?" he asked.

Her response was as wide–eyed and innocent as Kenshin had tried to be a minute ago, in other words, not very. "No reason. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Ken replied, fighting to keep his eyes on her eyes and his hands off her body.

"What were you thinking when you were looking at me before Saitou interrupted us early on in the evening?"

What had he been thinking? Saitou had been trying to catch a cab and failing miserably. Ken had just finished glaring at Saitou for messing with Kaoru when he'd looked at her to see if she had recovered from the lungful of cigarette smoke. And if he hadn't fallen for her before, he'd fallen for her again and hadn't been able to help but stare at her. And then she'd caught him staring.

Kaoru's voice broke into his thoughts. "You said you'd tell me later. It's later."

"I was thinking that it was hard to believe that it had only been one week since I'd known you."

"I know that. You told me that then," Kaoru waved his reply away. "That's not what I wanted to know."

"What do you want to know, then?"

"Ken! Don't be difficult. You said you'd tell me."

"I did say that, didn't I?"

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Kaoru frowned.

Did she really want him to tell her that he'd been thinking about her in a string bikini, preferably near a bed? Did she want him to tell her that he'd been thinking about running his hands over her body and kissing her most private … well it was better not to go there, not while she was lying there underneath him with nothing on but a big t-shirt, no bra, and his boxers.

"Kaoru, are those mine?" Ken asked incredulously, although the idea of her literally in his pants was definitely a turn on.

She favored him with a confused look. "Are what yours?" He had better not be trying to change the subject.

"Those boxers."

Kaoru felt her cheeks color. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I need to do laundry, so I just borrowed a pair of yours. Is that okay? You weren't around to ask…" she trailed off.

"It's fine. I was just surprised."

"Oh."

A few moments of silence passed.

"So what was behind that look?" Kaoru asked again.

Damn, she's persistent, Ken thought ruefully, but he'd never known Kaoru to be easily sidetracked. It was hard to concentrate with their faces so close. Every breath she exhaled was a soft puff of air on his face.

"I was thinking I would fall apart without you and that if I had to I would die for you," Ken admitted, totally out of character.

Kaoru looked shocked, but a good shocked Ken was pleased to observe. "Then I was thinking about you in a string bikini, minus the strings."

Her reaction to that was even better. First she went pale and then all the color came flooding back to her face until she was as almost as red as that 'Elmo' puppet. She was clearly at a loss for words.

"On a bed," Ken added, just to see her squirm.

And squirm she did, a hot flush had spread across her cheeks, and she was staring up at him like a deer caught in headlights. She kept her body absolutely still.

"But I was thinking a couch would do just fine."

Her eyes grew wider than Ken would've thought imaginable. She was probably just realizing their intimate position, and that yes, they were on a couch. And she was wearing a pair of his boxers. She looked like she was going to bolt any second.

Ken decided to simply wait as Kaoru worked out what he'd just said in her mind. Slowly, slowly the redness was fading from her face. Her breathing was slowing down and her eyes were back down to their normal size. She was staring up at him, and the whole time he waited she kept her eyes focused on his. Ken was rewarded for his patience when she slowly reached a hand up and caressed his face, her smooth fingertips leaving a trail of warmth as they traced across his cheek. She cupped his face in both her hands and looked up into his eyes, searching for something. Apparently she found it, because she drew his head down until his lips were on hers and kissed him, the velvet texture of her lips sending heat throughout his body faster than blood could. He kissed her back, realizing she was fulfilling a different type of hunger, one that would plague him the rest of his days whenever he was apart from her. But she cut off the contact, pushing him away slightly so she could breathe.

"Were you really thinking that?"

"Yes," he answered plainly.

"Really? Even with Saitou there?"

"I wasn't thinking about him. What a way to put a damper on the mood," Ken scolded half-heartedly. Yes, Saitou's face sure did wipe away his thoughts of kissing Kaoru. Now he felt like puking. The words 'Saitou' and 'kissing' shouldn't evenbe in the same sentence.

"All of it?"

"Yes."

Kaoru smiled, banishing all thoughts of Saitou and bringing the mood back. She'd really wanted to know if the first part was true, he was obviously teasing her when be put in the stuff about bikini strings, or lack thereof. "I'm sure someday your fantasy will come true."

"There's no time like the present," Ken reminded her, lowering his mouth to hers.

"I think that would just complicate things," Kaoru protested before Ken cut off any further comments she might have made. She was so involved in responding to his kisses that it took her a moment to realize that his hips were pressed against hers.

"Ken-"she managed to get out when he pulled back a little to breathe. But she forgot whatever it was she was going to say when she realized she'd much rather have his lips on hers, than hovering above, waiting for her to speak.

"What?" he asked. Then the mood was rained out when his cell phone vibrated insistently from where it sat on the end-table by the door. He gave her his best apologetic look. She smiled up at him and shook off his apology.

"Answer the phone," she ordered, careful to keep her voice gentle to soften the power of the order. He lifted her body up to a sitting position on the couch first, before easing off her and walking quickly over to pick up the phone.

"It's Ken…"

Kaoru pushed his conversation out of her mind as she reflected on what had just happened. Besides the scintillating make-out session, Ken had basically told her he was in love with her. He'd almost told her anyway. She could see he was too embarrassed to actually come out and tell her, but all guys were like that. She grabbed one of the sofa pillows and hugged it to herself. She could still half-feel the contact of his body on hers.

"You didn't need to remind me of the meeting time."

Ken's voice drifted into her thoughts. He sounded angry and annoyed. It was probably one of the Juppongatana. It couldn't be Ayame since Ken had been pleased to see her. Kaoru tuned out his voice once more and let her eyes drift over to the television, not really seeing it.

Ken was pissed that the leader of the Juppongatana had had the nerve to call him up and remind him of his meeting with Saitou. Myojin had probably done it just to get on his nerves. There had been a time when the two respected each other, but that had ended a decade ago. Now Ken pretty much tried to have nothing to do with the vampire. He was confident that he could best Myojin if it came down to that, but he wasn't going to delude himself with the notion that he could defeat the whole Juppongatana, which would surely come after him if he so much as laid a finger on their precious leader. And he didn't want to deal with a Juppongatana led by Tsubame, which would probably be more deadly than the present one.

_  
One of my contacts is taking a college course in math. She said she's having trouble with this problem. I know there's something good in this for me if I figure it out._

_ I guess I have a little time. What's the problem?_

_ Prove that for each positive integer N there exists a circle in the XY-plane which contains exactly N lattice points. What the Hell is a lattice point?_

_ Um…__ You're on your own with this one._

_ I thought so._

_ Yeah._

"Kid, I'd like to know what you had in mind by letting them go like that. We could have at least tailed them back to wherever they're staying."

"That vampire would have known. I knew you'd attack him. I didn't want Kaoru hurt." Sou looked out the car window at the dawn of the new day. The vampires were all asleep by now.

"She dumped you, kid."

Sou turned to stare at his uncle, unbelieving that he could be so blunt. "But I still care about her! I don't want her dead!"

"I never said you did."

"It wouldn't matter if she was a girl I didn't know. I couldn't risk an innocent getting stuck in the middle. I would have thought you'd understand that, Oji."

"I understand your reasoning, Soujiro, but now we don't have a lead on them unless Jineh or Enishi come through, and right now, they're both in the hotel room sleeping to get ready for tonight."

"I'll do some spying tonight to make up for it."

"No. I can spy well enough on my own. I want you to work in the day and sleep tonight. You need to establish yourself as a hunter with the human part of the city. Here's a list of addresses and the people to talk to at each, all human. All you have to do is tell them you're with me and you should be let in. Just spread the word that we're looking for the Battousai. We my as well leave the girl out of it. She's dead if we take her out of LA anyway."

"You mean the Juppongatana will kill her?"

"Yes."

"Can't I come with you and search for them tomorrow?"

"You're cramping my style, kid. I'm driving back to the hotel go get some rest. You need anything, call me, but get to every one of those addresses before nightfall and back to the hotel or you'll lead the vampires to us and then we're all dead. You got that, kid?"

"Yes, Oji."

**********A/N – Woop! There it is! Last chapter there were a lot of new reviewers. Hopefully there will be this time too. And another shout-out to all the reviewers that have been there from chapter one:**

**********JML**

**********Hitokiri-miao**** miao**

**********Videl621**

**********kouri******

**********bitchy**** brunette**

**********The Girl Who Cried Oro**

**********Saiya**** Winters**

**********Silver Warrior**

**********HiEi**** FoR sALe**

**********Black Chiney**

**********Kenshin's Demon**

**********Pruningshears******

**********Fiery Shadow**

**********Neko**** Oni-chan**

**********Hope I didn't miss anyone! Thanks a bunch. And remember, I love ALL reviews and reviewers. wink Drop a review if you have time. See you at chapter 14.**


	14. Tomoe Yukishiro, Part 1

**A/N –I'm happy to say that I've just recovered from a little writer's block. Okay, confession time: it didn't seem little at the time! So yet again, despite it being summertime, I have taken a whole month to update. Sorry! But I'm just REALLY happy that the writer's block is gone, so I'm not that sorry. It took a little one-shot (that I recommend reading) and a couple days thinking to banish it, the writer's block I mean. Allow me to reward you with an extra long chapter.**

**And now, a thanks to the reviewers:**

**Inuyashachic15, Kyia, MZ. AMbER EYES, Ebony Glare, ixchen, pruningshears, De Lazy Lime, Poppy2, Jade Catseye, YukiCodeLyoko, JML, InsanexPsycho, docanderson, genocide ex-syncin, Kuroi Tamashii, stoictimer, Hitokiri-miao miao, Naiya-chan, XxSilentxDreamerxX, BelleDayNight, Bando-Eido no Megami-sama, MidnightRosebud, Sapphire Priestess, Gilligan's Ghost, PsychoSushi, Kenshin luvs durians, Moon-Dragon 1288, kenshin's-angel, the sacred night, bonessasan, Rinfirithiel, unknown beedee, Iram, Kenshin's Demon, Mishorou Mie, WiNdSpRitE11, softball202**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or the Matrix or anything else I may have mentioned. Can you tell I'm tired of disclaimers?**

**  
**

**  
Silver Cross**

**  
Chapter 14 – Tomoe Yukishiro, Part 1**

_ I'm out of hair gel. Can I use yours?  
No. Go get your own.  
That means I have to go all the way outside and then walk all the way to the store and then come all the way back. It's raining. You wouldn't do that to me, would you?  
You'd best get to walking.  
You suck.  
It's your own dumb fault.  
Fine.__ Just don't come crawling to me the next time you're out of hair gel._

"There's something about ice cream that raises you up from the pit of despair in which you were falling and sets your feet upon the rock. Thank You, Lord, for this strawberry ice cream."

Ken watched as Kaoru closed her eyes to savor the ice cream and dug in, missing the skeptical look he shot her way. She was an ice cream fanatic. Ken decided to keep that information in mind. He frowned, what had she meant by 'the pit of despair'? Reasoning that there was no way to find out unless he asked, he did.

Kaoru opened one eye and focused it on his face, tongue paused in the act of licking her cone. "Don't mess with me while I'm eating my ice cream."

Ken just blinked at her. Normal people didn't act this way.

Kaoru resumed licking her ice cream cone for a few moments before grinning up at him, her smile chasing away the darkness around them with the help of a few streetlights. "I'm just kidding. Don't take everything I say so seriously."

Ken blinked again. If anything he wasn't being serious enough. He should be physically and mentally preparing himself to deal with Saitou, whom they were about to be late meeting with, and Tomoe, whom he'd been blackmailed into killing in the near future. Instead, he'd let Kaoru convince him to take her out for ice cream during the hour between sunrise and Saitou arriving to take them to Ayame's. As if there wasn't ice cream at the tea house! And all it had taken were a few coy looks from the corner of her eye and a fleeting kiss. He really needed to gather his wits and get Kaoru off his brain if he was going to have any chance keeping himself sane around Saitou, not to mention Tomoe.

"I resent being stared at as if I was crazy."

Ken adverted his gaze from Kaoru to monitor the streets around them. Tomoe knew he was looking for her by now. He wouldn't put it past her to enlist someone to track him down and spy on him before their meeting to gain a little intel. After all, that was how she'd roped him into this whole mess in the first place. And there was no doubt that it had all started with her. If she hadn't sought him out during the war, he never would have found himself in the situation where he had to choose between death and living the life of a vampire. He never would have had to curse himself every night for one weak decision all those years ago. But griping about it sounded pathetic even to him. What was done was done and no amount of regret would change the conscious decision he had made to become a vampire. True, he hadn't known what he'd been getting himself into or even what a vampire was, but that gave him no grounds to blame Tomoe for his mistakes. He should have listened to his consciousness that time instead of agreeing to allow her to save him, therefore indebting himself to her.

A familiar vampire ki intruded on his senses. Saitou. No sooner had Ken thought the man's name then he spotted the man himself, emerging from an alley. Ken nodded to him briefly in acknowledgement, keeping his eyes on the Juppongatana member warily as he drew closer. Kaoru remained oblivious, still licking her cone as if it was the only thing that mattered in the world. Looking at her, you'd think she was strolling along a park path in broad daylight instead of standing on a street corner at night in a part of town that was falling into disrepair. That quality in her was as comforting as it was terrifying.

"Why are you out here?" Saitou asked bluntly as soon as he was within hearing distance.

Kaoru visibly jumped, but didn't make a sound.

"She wanted ice cream," Ken answered in a tone that conveyed the fact that he was annoyed to be forced to state the obvious.

Saitou stopped a few feet away from Ken and glared at him. "You know perhaps better than I how much danger you're putting yourself in by standing out here in the open. You're a fool to indulge her whims."

"What do you care? It's no secret you want me dead. I didn't think it would matter to you if you weren't the one to do it."

"Maybe I do want you dead, but that's impossible right now. My leader has ordered me to watch over your sorry ass, and I refuse to let you defeat me again by dying on me. We'll fight our own war when this one is over."

Ken's grin held a feral quality. "If you say so," he agreed. Beating Saitou was always a pleasure.

"I say so. You won't wriggle out of this battle."

Ken's face lost its grin. "Are you implying that I 'wriggled out of' the last one?"

"Infer what you want," Saitou said coolly, glaring steadily at the other vampire.

"I must have given you a few too many hard knocks on your head, because you seem to have lost some brain cells," Ken informed him in clipped tones. "I was the one who saved your ass. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me."

Saitou sneered. "I would have made it out."

"Tokio told me you had to stay in bed for two more nights afterwards. It only takes one day to recover from most injuries. You wouldn't have made it anywhere but Hell."

"What were you talking to my wife for?!" Saitou asked, unpleasantly surprised.

"You're the one who hates me, not her. Why wouldn't I talk to her?"

"Stay away from her, Battousai."

Ken scoffed. "You know there's no way you can stop her from reaching me if she wants. If you tried to stop her she'd have your head."

Sick of the words flowing back and forth between the two vampires, Kaoru decided to put in her own two cents. "If it's so important not to be seen, then why are you two just standing here squabbling?" All she received for her efforts were two icy glares.

"Stay out of this," Saitou snapped.

"Don't talk to her that way. You're to address her with nothing less than respect," Ken snapped back, taking a menacing step towards Saitou.

"_You_ are attempting to intimidate _me_? This is too funny. I can't wait to have a good laugh with Okita when I tell him about this."

"I know you're not taking me lightly, Saitou. I know inside you're a little uneasy, a little unsure that maybe you couldn't beat me. After all, we haven't really fought each other all out. You know I haven't been as earnest as you were in your efforts to kill me. I don't want to fight you, but if you want a fight to the death after this is all over, I'll give you one."

Kaoru definitely did not like where the argument was going, or the fact that Ken seemed to be perfectly okay with the direction in which the argument was going. She looked from Ken to Saitou with growing alarm.

"You don't intimidate me, Battousai."

"Then you haven't learned your lesson."

"You forget that the first time I saw you in ten years, you were following this girl around as if she had you on a leash. You've obviously grown soft with a human running your life."

"If you felt that way, then why didn't you confront me as soon as you saw me instead of waiting until I left her alone to threaten her?" Ken shot back.

"I had orders to keep you in the dark from high up. If it had been up to me, you would have been dead."

"I am fucking tired of being left in the dark," Ken stated slowly, flatly, by now more angry at the world than angry at Saitou. Kaoru watched him guardedly. Just as it seemed he was going to let the anger get the better of him, all emotion disappeared from his face. He turned abruptly and started walking away from Saitou and Kaoru.

"Where are you going?" Saitou yelled, frustrated.

Ken didn't reply, simply continuing back in the direction of the apartment.

With a scathing glance at Saitou, Kaoru followed the shorter vampire at a safe distance. If she tried to approach Ken, he probably wouldn't shrug her off, but as long as there was a chance that he might, she didn't want Saitou seeing it. And something told her it would be wise to stay behind the scenes for the moment, just in case Ken was resenting the fact that she was a tagalong.

The scuffing sound of an angry foot connecting with the curb reached her over the steady murmur of traffic going by. So Saitou was angry? Let him be. He deserved it. Kaoru would have yelled at him herself if she wasn't sure that it would aggravate Ken. It was depressing being looked at as inferior just because she was human. It was even more depressing because there was a degree of truth to that attitude. There was nothing she could do to benefit Ken. She had to be watched every second at night, Ken had forbidden her to go out in the day, and she probably couldn't stand up to the weakest vampire after her blood. Her first encounter with Misao was proof of that.

_  
We've been running for hours. I'm thirsty.   
Stop complaining.  
I can't help it. There's no time to hunt down an animal and get some blood. I'm dehydrated. Is there any water around here? I'm that desperate.  
Here. It was in the human's pack.  
Thanks! Cool, one of those water bottles with a filter you can change and shit. I should get me one of these.  
…  
Hey! This water tastes like dirt!  
How can water taste like dirt?  
I don't know, but this does. Try it if you don't believe me.  
… You're right. It must be well water or something.  
Crappy filter! See, that's why I'm against technology._

"You can't just leave me here," Kaoru exclaimed, hands on her hips.

"I agree that it's best to leave the human here," Saitou cut in while Kaoru still had her mouth open, "but you are not leaving me behind, Battousai."

"You are both staying at Ayame's while I take care of Tomoe. I can't afford to worry about where you are while I'm fighting her," Ken said blandly, giving them both a hard glare that did not match his genial tone of voice.

Kaoru bit back her next protest. Ken hadn't treated her coldly since they'd come to LA. She preferred to think he was acting this way because he needed to distance himself from the world. He was planning to kill someone in the near future after all; the person who'd turned him into a vampire. Yes, it was better to chalk his behavior up to nervousness at seeing Tomoe again than have the reason be that he'd decided there was no way their relationship was going to work, and was preparing to sever ties with her.

"Even though I'm sure it would give you much satisfaction to boss me around, you are not my superior." Saitou's voice was steely. "My leader has given me orders to witness the death of your assignment and that is what I will do."

Ken's smirk did not reach his eyes. They remained expressionless, more amber then violet, utterly different from the even swirl of the two colors that Kaoru was used to seeing. "I thought you'd say something like that, Saitou. The second Myojin calls you with new orders, I'm leaving. You will stay here to protect Kaoru."

Ken tuned out the protests from both of his unlikely companions and watched the traffic outside Ayame's. He'd parked the car illegally, but he didn't expect to leave it in the handicapped spot for long. He didn't want a meddlesome cop coming along and giving him a ticket, which would do nothing but leave a paper trail. Since the Juppongatana obviously knew his identity as Mr. Sato it wouldn't be long before that information leaked out to the hunter and vampire public from one of the Juppongatana's less reliable members.

"Kenshin Himura! You're not listening to a word I'm saying!"

"Shut up," Saitou barked harshly. "Don't yell his name all over the street! Do you want everyone to know who he is?!"

"Don't tell me to shut up, you worthless piece of crap! I don't know why your wife married a haughty, arrogant, domineering jerk-face like you," Kaoru yelled, counting off each insult with her fingers.

"Jerk-face?" Saitou rolled his eyes. "Is that the best you could come up with?"

"I bet you don't even know what haughty, arrogant, and domineering mean you thick, brainless, dim-witted, unreasonable-"

"Kaoru, stop." The controlling element Ken put in his voice silenced her just in time. Saitou seemed about to tear her into shreds if she'd gone on any longer. Ken didn't have time to deal with their argument tonight. "Be quiet and wait for Saitou's leader to call. When he does, go to Ayame and have her put you to work until I get back."

"But, Ken-"

"You work as a waitress, it'll be no trouble for you."

Saitou started snickering. "You're a waitress?" He turned to Ken. "You pick up your contacts at restaurants now?"

"Hey," Kaoru defended herself hotly. "It's only a summer job. For your information, I'll be a junior in college next year! And I am not his contact!"

Saitou snickered some more. "Dating college kids now? I never thought I'd see the day. Of course, you do look like one. I should have figured. Leave the girl and let's go. I don't intend to waste the whole night on this assignment."

Ken ignored the jibe from Saitou. He was too wired to care. He needed Myojin to call so he could leave Kaoru where she was safe and acquire a few things before his meeting with Tomoe. She'd agreed to meet him in the letter Ayame had transferred to him. One of Ayame's human workers had received it from a street kid earlier that afternoon. Now Ken was impatient to be off. If he was late, he knew Tomoe wouldn't wait for him to show up. She had better things to do, things that apparently had to do with the Juppongatana, since they were so eager to have her destroyed. Ken planned on getting a lot of information out of her before she suspected anything. Like he'd said to Saitou before, he didn't like being kept in the dark.

"Ken, couldn't I just stay at the apartment?"

"No. The Juppongatana know where it is. You're not safe there."

"Don't insult the honor of the Juppongatana," Saitou said testily. "We would not go back on our word and harm her there."

"I'm not any safer here," Kaoru protested, angry that Ken wasn't bothering to make eye contact with either of them.

Ken was tired of both of them arguing at him. Couldn't they see he didn't need to listen to their bickering and yelling right now? "Saitou, I'm not insulting the honor of your crappy police club. Kaoru, stay at Ayame's. You'll be safer in the open of the restaurant and Ayame protects all of her waitresses. Beg her to let you work there for tonight." Thankfully, Kaoru looked resigned to her fate and started shooting the storefront of the restaurant sulky glances instead of Ken. Saitou just looked pissed, but remained silent.

A few minutes of tense silence between the three passed until Saitou's cell phone vibrated. Casting Ken and Kaoru both hateful looks, he stepped out of human and vampire earshot to answer it.

Kaoru sighed in defeat. "Fine, Kenshin. Go alone, just come back, okay?"

Ken finally brought his eyes away from scanning traffic to her. "I will. I need you to be at Ayame's, Kaoru. She's the only vampire I trust in L.A. She'll take care of you while I'm gone."

Kaoru nodded. "Just so you know, I resent the fact that you're making me work without pay."

Ken ignored her attempt to lighten the mood. "Stay with her for a few nights if I don't come back-"

"If you don't come back?" Kaoru echoed, disturbed at the notion.

"And then go to the apartment in the morning, pack up our stuff, and get a plane ticket back to Philly before nightfall. I doubt the Juppongatana will come after you, but try not to go out after dark for a few months," Ken finished.

"Oh please, if you don't come back, then I'm going after you, not going back to Philly," Kaoru informed him breezily, refusing to entertain the notion that it meant he was dead if he didn't come back.

"If I don't come back there'll be nothing to find but ashes, and I doubt you'll find that much," Ken informed her.

"I don't believe that. I'll come after you if you don't come back," Kaoru said firmly.

"I'll just have Saitou call Soujiro then. He'll be sure you get back to your home whether you want to go or not."

Kaoru glared up at him stubbornly. "I can deal with Soujiro. He trusts me enough still that I could outwit him long enough to get away."

"That's what Shishio and those other hunters are for," Ken said smugly. "They'll never trust you enough to let you get away."

"Why are you talking like you're not coming back?! You better come back!"

"There's a good chance I won't, Kaoru. Don't be an idiot. Tomoe's older and wiser then me. I've got to face those facts. There's no way I can go into this underestimating her and ever come out." Ken wished he could beat the truth into her brain and make her believe what he said, but he could see the denial in her eyes. No matter what he said, he didn't think he could change that. He hadn't realized she looked up to him to the extent that she believed he was the most powerful vampire out there. Hadn't she seen him at the mercy of the Juppongatana? Hadn't she grasped how powerless he would have been against all of them?

"You'll come back. Stop doubting yourself."

There was anger in her voice. Ken could hardly believe that she was honest-to-God, truthfully, fiercely, angry at him for doubting himself. He gave up trying to convince her that he really wasn't all that.

"Look, Kaoru, let's stop arguing. I don't want to leave with you mad at me."

"I can't help but be mad at you, Kenshin! How are you going to beat her if you've got some inferiority complex?!"

It was cute that Kaoru called him Kenshin when they were alone now, well as alone as they could get standing on the busy sidewalk of a crowded street in the middle of the city, and it even kind of turned him on, but she was irritating the Hell out of him at that moment. And it was insulting to be told that you had an inferiority complex, when you clearly did not. In his whole life as both a human and vampire, not once had someone told him he had an inferiority complex, except for when it came to Hiko, but that didn't count. And even if he did have one, he certainly wouldn't be feeling inferior to Tomoe, a woman who preyed on young men and turned them into vampires just to get her kicks. He just had a healthy respect for her, and that was it. Kaoru was the one with the inferiority complex. He'd seen the way she looked at Ayame. That was probably half the reason she was putting up a fuss. But there was no way Ken was going to tease Kaoru about that right now, not when that would just make new arguments pour forth from her lips.

"I don't have an inferiority complex. I'm just being cautious. I doubt the Juppongatana will be all smiles and understanding if I failed to kill her. They'd probably come after you, which is why I want you to stay with Ayame." Ken hoped Kaoru didn't realize that there was no way Saitou would call Soujiro to take her back if he was ordered to kill her by his boss. Actually, there was no way Saitou would ever do a favor for Ken, especially not one as big as preserving the safety of a person he cared about.

"But they're not allowed to kill humans, Ken! They can't threaten me with death," Kaoru protested, wondering why she hadn't made the revelation before.

"They'll turn you first, and then kill you."

Kaoru's hands reflexively went to her neck. "I-I didn't think of that."

"I know. Now as soon as Saitou finishes with his conversation I'm going to leave and you're going inside Ayame's to beg for a job, because if she doesn't give you one and I don't come back, you're dead. Agreed?"

Kaoru nodded mutely.

Ken sighed and took her hands in his, drawing them away from her neck. "I will try my best to come back to you, Kaoru."

"I know. I'm sorry. I just feel guilty that you have to kill her because of me," her voice dropped to a whisper he wouldn't have been able to discern if he was human. "I don't want you to go and leave me alone."

"Don't be melodramatic; you've got your family and friends."

Judging by the startled look in Kaoru's eyes, she obviously hadn't meant for him to hear that last sentence. "Like the old song goes," she whispered in a voice just as soft. "If I can't have you, I don't want nobody, baby."

"You'll make it."

He said that because it was the truth. She would make it. They hadn't known each other for long and she was young, not centuries old like him, she would make it.

"Kenshin-"

A finger on her lips and she was silent, staring up at him expectantly. Now was the time where he was supposed to say something that would make her teary eyed but determined to get a job for the night at Ayame's, which was about the only place she could make herself useful at the moment. It was too bad Ken couldn't think of anything inspiring to say.

"Don't argue with me anymore."

Kaoru sighed and cast her eyes to the ground. "Okay. Have it your way."

"You win," Saitou's voice cut in. "Somehow you pulled it off."

Ken let go of Kaoru's hands, his eyes mostly amber once again, and turned to the other vampire. "Watch Kaoru until I get back," he ordered, striding to the car.

"Only because those are my orders," Saitou bit out, turning his back on Ken and stopping at the entrance to Ayame's. "Come on, Kamiya."

Ken was in the car and had pulled into traffic before Kaoru could overcome her shock at the rapid pace Saitou had changed his mind and say good-bye. She wished that Ken's eyes hadn't been amber again, and that he'd at least kissed her before he left. And what lay ahead in the next few hours for her? First groveling to Ayame, a serious blow to her pride, and then being extra polite and cheerful to the customers, all the while under Saitou's spiteful gaze. At least it would make the time until Ken returned pass faster.

"Come on, Kamiya," Saitou ordered annoyed. "Staring after him isn't going to make him come back any sooner. And when he does come back, I'm going to whomp his ass into the ground."

Kaoru turned away from the street and glared at him. She vowed to teach the vampire to respect her before the night was over.

_  
What's ESP stand for again?  
Extra-sensory perception.  
Well I think I've got it.  
You?  
Hey! Stop laughing!  
This from the guy who lost a thousand dollars because he bet he could pick out an ace from five cards, and you picked the two of clubs.  
It could have happened to anyone!  
Sano, the other four cards were aces._

"He's on the move tonight."

Shishio scoffed, the sound muted through the hotel door. "The Battousai is on the move every night."

"It's different. The word is that something big is happening tonight, and it has to do with the Battousai and the dark one. I think it would be best if we lay low tonight."

"You mean not go out at all?" Jineh asked incredulously.

"No. I mean stay as much behind the scenes as possible," Enishi corrected. "We don't want to get in the way of the dark one."

"If it's in the way of the Battousai, then I don't care," Jineh argued stubbornly. "I'm paying you to kill that manslayer."

"You're also paying me to protect you," Enishi shot back. "Except for the kid, you're the greenest one of all of us, but even you should know not to mess with the dark one."

"He's right, Jineh," Shishio's voice came drifting through the door. "Don't pull any major stunts tonight, and if you actually find the Battousai, get away from him as fast as you can. If the dark one wants him, let it have him."

Jineh must have agreed because there was no more talking, just feet walking around on the carpet before the sound of the main door creaking open was heard and all three of them left the room. The door slammed behind them and Soujiro stood in a daze from his position crouched by the door that adjoined the two rooms. He was exhausted. He'd been up for over twenty-four hours and had stayed up the extra few minutes to eavesdrop only to receive news like this. If Kaoru was anywhere near the Battousai, she'd be in a danger so threatening even his uncle feared it. Soujiro had long since gotten over his initial hatred of Kaoru for cheating on him and then dumping him. He was still angry, but that didn't mean he wanted her dead. Still, there was no way he could warn her or find her in time to stop any bad fortune that might befall her. He had to entrust her life to the Battousai for now. Thankfully, the vampire was competent enough to watch over her.

Soujiro made his way over to the bed and climbed in after kicking his shoes off. No, there was nothing to do but pray.

_  
Coffee or bread?__ Coffee or bread? Coffee or bread?  
What are you mumbling about?  
Which one should I have first?  
You are hopeless._

Ken waited until after he'd paid a visit to the storage facility where he'd stored a katana and a few other choice items a couple decades ago to call Ayame. He figured she would have set Kaoru to work by now, and he owed her a thank you.

"Ken, why are you calling me at work?" her voice came on the line, a little scratchy because he didn't have a good signal.

"Sorry, Ayame. I just wanted to say thank you for using your influence with the Juppongatana to get Saitou off my back."

Her laugh trilled over the phone. "No problem. Saitou's and Myoujin's wives are friends. Once I convinced Tokio that her husband would only get in the way, it was a done deal. Tsubame may not run the Juppongatana, but she does run her husband."

"Do you usually reveal your secrets to all the people you do favors for?"

"Of course not. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead. I'll tell you anything that may help you later."

"Good. I thought Sano and I trained you better than that."

"You two did a wonderful job," Ayame said softly. "By the way, Ken, your little girlfriend's here. She said you wanted her to work for me until you get back."

"Good. And Saitou's there too?" Ken asked. He needed to know the vampire was looking after Kaoru.

"Yes. Sitting at a table by himself with a cup of tea, scaring all my customers off. But enough about him, what's the deal with this girl, Ken?"

"What do you mean, what's the deal?"

"You know what I mean. You never hung around with a contact before."

"She's not a contact," Ken corrected absentmindedly.

"You sure look at her like she's your contact. I'm a woman. I know about matters of the heart, and she's heartbreak waiting to happen. She doesn't look too keen on turning into vampire either, which is the only way your relationship might last."

"When did I say I wanted her to?" Ken asked defensively.

"So that means you do have a relationship," Ayame fairly crowed.

Ken didn't bother to say anything. She'd caught him in a trap and he didn't feel like digging himself deeper at the moment.

"She's doing well with the customers," Ayame told him, wisely changing the subject. "She told me she had a waitressing job part-time. I think she'll be alright here. I'll make sure my men look after her as well, so don't worry about her tonight."

"Thanks. I'm sorry I had to leave her with you. There's no one else."

"It's fine. What are friends for? Not that you've been keeping in touch with me more than once a year."

"Don't tell anyone about her, Ayame. I don't want her getting mixed up in my life more than necessary."

"Sure thing. I'll keep my mouth shut this time. I see her across the room now. She is a pretty little thing, isn't she?"

Ken thought up a mental image of Kaoru at the restaurant, with a few minor alterations to the scene that must be playing out now. No one in the restaurant but her and him, with her in that bikini from last night sounded about right. "Yes," he agreed, deciding Ayame was the last person in the world he could be frank with besides Kaoru, not that there had ever been that many. After he had struck out on his own, he had never needed to talk to anyone other than Sano and the occasional contact who had no clue what was going on.

"Try and come back for her then, Ken. I don't know what weird mission you're on tonight, but rumor has it that the dark one has something to do with it."

"Go back to your restaurant, Ayame. If I get back I'll say hi before I pick up Kaoru."

Ken hung up and turned his phone off, concentrating on the road once again.

_  
Ew__. Mosquito!  
Where is it?  
Right there.  
Where? I don't see it!  
Right there! Kill it. I hate clapping bugs.  
I don't see it! Get it so it doesn't get us during the day!  
Ewwww__.  
What?!  
I got it._

Kaoru had watched him do some basic workouts before they'd gone out for ice cream. She'd even joined in, albeit a bit half-heartedly. He had to prepare his body for the confrontation with Tomoe so it wouldn't fail him if his mind did. Luckily, he'd been in peak physical condition when he'd been turned, so it wasn't hard to bring his body back into shape. With only an average of twelve hours a day his, even less in the summer, he rarely had time to train anymore, especially since his mission to kill the dark one had started. Back in the storage shed, Ken had been grateful he'd taken the initiative to give his body a workout. The muscles he used when he fought with his katana and companion wakizashi hadn't been exercised in a long time.

Ken parked the car on the side of the road after turning around so he could hop in and strike off for L.A. in a hurry if need be. The map he'd brought said the driveway to the ranch Tomoe had holed herself up in was a mile long. Ken preferred it that way. Tomoe wouldn't have heard the sound of the car from the house and it was unlikely that she would have had cameras installed that far from the stronghold. Of course she wasn't expecting him to drive up and knock on the front door, but she was only one woman. Probably only one woman anyway. Tomoe liked to conduct her affairs in private. It was unlikely that she'd brought anyone along to patrol the perimeter, and Ken had a hard time picturing her slinking around through the bushes in the dark waiting for him, so his choice to park a mile away was justified.

After turning off the engine and unbuckling his seatbelt, Ken meditated for a few moments to clear his mind, a habit born from hanging around Aoshi Shinomori. He banished Kaoru from his head and thought only of Tomoe and the task ahead of him. He would be much happier when this night was over. Allowing himself a small sigh, Ken exited the car and walked around its front to the passenger-side door. Yanking it open, he retrieved his daisho and secured them in his belt against his left hip, with the weapon edges face up. He pulled up and down on the scabbard a few times to be sure it was firmly attached. It wasn't quite the same as when he'd fought in the war centuries ago, but the action certainly did bring back memories. Back then, he'd secured the daisho on his hakama. Times had changed.

Ken let out a short laugh at that thought and retrieved the other items he'd repossessed from the storage shed, placing them carefully in the pockets of his trench coat. Shutting and locking the door of the car, he evaluated himself once more. He was now clothed entirely in black, having changed at the storage shed into a pair of black boots, black pants, a black t-shirt, and a long black trench coat. He probably looked like one of the characters from that movie the Matrix, minus the dark shades. A Matrix character or a goth. He hadn't bothered to take his hair into account. At night, it merely looked dark brown, almost black, not the deep shade of reddish brown that made him stand out in the sun. As a child, his hair had been even brighter and he would have needed a hat to allow him to go unnoticed, even in the dark, but as he'd gotten older, it had thankfully toned down. Ken doubted any of the vampires were even aware of the fact that he had red hair since he hadn't been cursed by any telltale freckles and his eyebrows were actually a lot darker than his hair.

He quizzed himself until he was certain he knew in what pocket every item he carried was, even his car keys. Then he drank in his surroundings, allowing his keen eyes to adjust to the dark. In a few seconds he could make out the trees that lined the dirt road into the forest where the ranch lay in wait for him. In a few more seconds he could see the individual leaves on those trees, and in a minute he could see the small shadows of the bugs that rested on the leaves, cast down by the crescent moon.

To be sure he could maneuver around his trench coat enough to draw his katana in a hurry, Ken practiced drawing it from its scabbard and executed a few practice thrusts.

"Iai do: the art of drawing a sword," Ken murmured to himself. It felt good to hold a katana again. Ten years was a long time to go without the weight of one in his palm. Sheathing the sword, he gave the interior of the car a last cursory glance before shutting the door as quietly as possible and sprinting into the forest.

Ken had always been fast. Even when he was human his speed had rivaled that of the average vampire, not that he'd even heard of such creatures back then. When he'd been turned it had increased tenfold. Now, with the aid of his vampire senses, he was able to navigate through the forest at night as if he'd been walking along a paved path at noon on a clear day. Cautiously, he made the mile trip to the ranch in three minutes.

There it lay. Every single window in the three story ranch house was lit. The light from the windows pooled out and across the manicured lawn. To the left and slightly behind the house were a large barn and a fenced in pasture. To the right of the house and almost in the woods was a small cottage, presumably for the live-in caretaker. The woods ended where Ken stood. The land beyond the small ranch was nothing but rolling hills of scrub bush and God knew what other plants. There would be no cover trying to break into the house. Ken did not intend on knocking on the front door. He decided to check out the caretaker's single story cottage first, simply because it was the only place he could reach without fear of being detected from the house. With a watchful eye for movement on the illuminated windows, he slunk around to the cottage.

_  
Tomoe, what's wrong with me? Why am I so weak?  
I saved you from dying. You're recovering. It's normal for you to be weak.  
Oh… Why am I so cold?  
You're a vampire, Ken. I turned you into one to save you from death.  
What's a vampire?  
Did you hear the story of those peasants who fell victim to a mysterious foreigner?  
They said he wasn't human, that he sucked their blood and left them barely alive.  
Yes. That was the vampire who turned me. He was lonely for one of his own kind. You're one of us now.  
I don't understand.  
You will once your body has adjusted to the changes. Sleep now, Ken.  
I don't understand…_

Kaoru sat down in the vacant chair at Saitou's table for two with a sigh.

"You're supposed to be making yourself useful."

It really was depressing not knowing a single person in the whole restaurant but a man who clearly threw her in with the scum of the earth in his estimation, and a woman who was convinced she was Ken's mistress. Everyone else in the room seemed determined to drive her nuts. As it was, she'd ignored six calls for a waitress just while walking over to Saitou.

"I'm on break for a few minutes," Kaoru replied tersely. How in the Hell was she going to get Saitou to look at her like she wasn't shit crusted on the bottom of his shoe? And Ken must be having a bad influence on her, swearing didn't normally fit into her everyday thought pattern.

"Why'd you come over here?" His eyes remained fixed on the singer performing on stage.

"There's nowhere else in this place for me to rest a minute where I'd be out of the way. I'm not moving. I don't care if you mind," she finished stubbornly.

Saitou shrugged. "It's more convenient for me this way since I have to watch you."

Perhaps she should have stepped outside in the alley in that case. She hadn't wanted to do Saitou any favors. But who knew what would have happened to her if she'd done that. Kaoru suppressed a shiver.

"This isn't exactly my idea of an adventure," she said noncommittally.

Saitou just grunted.

"I always visualized something like Inuyasha or Fruits Basket or Ranma ½," Kaoru continued. "Something a bit cuter I suppose, not such an intense guy like Ken who hates what he is on a mission to kill someone."

She was surprised when Saitou actually turned to her with a spark of interest in his yellow gaze, a dull spark, but a spark nonetheless. She even more surprised when he spoke.

"You watch anime?"

Kaoru nodded. "And I read manga, when I have the time that is. Why? You know someone who does?"

"My wife," Saitou supplied. Kaoru had the distinct feeling he wasn't telling her the whole truth, but decided to ignore it for now. She hadn't known vampires were into anime, and it was always exciting to find a fellow anime-obsessed person.

"Which ones does she like?" Kaoru asked eagerly.

Saitou leaned back in his chair. Although his expression didn't change, Kaoru had the distinct impression that he was thoughtful. Wow. That was a first.

"She likes the ones you have mentioned. She also talks about Naruto, Wolf's Rain, and Cowboy Bebop."

Kaoru brightened. "Really?! I like all those too. Has she rubbed off on you a little, Saitou?"

"What are you talking about?" His question was more of a statement.

"I know from experience that you can't live with someone who's totally obsessed with anime for very long without a little bit rubbing off on you. I started out on Dragon Ball Z after hanging around my friend too much, and her brother was the one that got her hooked on it. Has your wife ever watched that one?"

"She used to set the VCR to tape it. It came on during the day most of the year."

"Yeah, Vegeta got me hooked on that. Goku was too good. Vegeta had more brains." Kaoru sighed happily. "Ah, memories. What did your wife start watching after that?"

"Outlaw Star."

"Cool. So do you watch any anime or read the manga?"

Saitou favored her with a bored glance. "When my wife forces me to."

"Oh." Well there went Kaoru's hunch that Saitou was a manga freak behind closed doors. Glancing at her watch, she saw that her break was over. Well three minutes really wasn't all that long. Stretching, she stood and straightened the uniform apron one of the other waitresses had outfitted her with. "See you later, Saitou."

"I'll be watching you, Kamiya."

Kaoru nodded before pushing in her chair and throwing herself to the masses once again. So much for making headway with Saitou.

_  
You want me to drink her blood. I won't. I'm not like you.  
But you are like me, Ken. No amount of wishful thinking can change that.  
I'm not like you, Tomoe.  
Stop lying to yourself. I know you feel the lust for her blood. You have to drink. You've started to lose your energy. Don't deny that. No amount of food will satiate your hunger.  
What have you turned me into, some kind of demon?! You never eat, you sleep in the day, you're pale as death some nights, and rosy the next, what are you?!  
I already told you. **We** are vampires. I'll leave you alone with her now. Do what your body tells you and drink. She's already been sipped on by the vampire who turned me. She sought me out.  
Why wouldn't she run away as fast as her legs could carry her from a creature like him?  
Ask her yourself._

The caretaker's cottage had proved to be empty of life, except for the tied-up, drugged-up, vampire-bitten caretaker lying on the sofa snoring. Ken had decided to deal with him later. The barn hadn't yielded any answers either, only a dozen or so horses, all well-kept and well-fed, presumably by the caretaker. Confident that no attack would come from either of those places, Ken had studied the house, lit up silently in a yard in the middle of nowhere. There was no doubt Tomoe was inside waiting for him. Ken preferred things dark and dreary, at least then he would have had some cover, but as it was, his every move would be out in the open once he entered that house. She'd left all the windows open as well as lit, so it had been an easy feat to climb in one towards the back of the house. Now he stood waiting quietly, not even breathing, by the same window he'd entered in. He waited for five minutes. There was not a sound throughout the house the whole time, besides a few creaks that could have been the house settling. But Ken knew better than that.

Keeping to the side of the wall, he made his way to the doorway to the rest of the house as silently as possible. Still, there was that one moment where he would have to stand in the middle of the doorway and potentially expose himself to threat. Placing his hand on the hilt of his katana, he moved into the doorway-

-and met her eyes.

"Hello, Ken."

After all the years her voice was exactly as he remembered it: suave, distant, and serene as a winter night after a blizzard. Her brown eyes stared into his, unnerving him now just as they had all those years ago. It was hard to believe her eyes were what had attracted him to her in the first place. Back then there had been melancholy and frustration in those eyes, behind the cold, composed exterior. Now they told him nothing, not even whether she was pleased or annoyed to see him again.

"It's been a long time," she stated when he said nothing. Surprisingly, she looked just like a regular woman in the twenty-first century, clad in blue jeans, boots with a three inch heel, and a short sleeved shirt made from a delicately patterned fabric. The Tomoe he remembered wore a kimono, socks and sandals. But she was still the same woman, sophisticated and detached as ever. Of that he had no doubt. Seeing her again was a shock that was taking him a disturbingly long time to recover from.

"Yes," Ken found himself agreeing. "It has been a long time."

"Please," she said with a faint smile that didn't reach her eyes, "come sit with me in the living room where we can talk."

With that she turned her back on him and disappeared through a doorway to her right. Ken shook his head to clear the fog from his brain before following her. He'd much rather keep her in his sight now that he'd found her. Cautiously, he made his way to the doorway and stepped through. Tomoe was sitting in a straight back wooden chair and had just picked up a cup of tea from the service on a low table in front of her. She gestured for him to sit across from her. Gingerly, Ken complied. He was all too conscious of the fact that she would have to be blind to miss his daisho now that he was sitting down, but there was no way he could attack. She was on her guard.

"Since you're well and functioning, I'm guessing you found another vampire to teach you the ropes after you left me," she observed dryly. "I had hoped you would."

"I did. He taught me well." Ken didn't add that it had been Seijuro Hiko. If Tomoe didn't know who he was, he didn't want to put the man in unnecessary danger.

"Tell me, have you kept your vow not to change anyone?" she asked, not moving her eyes from him as she sipped her tea.

"Yes," Ken told her firmly. "There are too many vampires in this world and no need to make more."

"Not liking immortality, darling? I know many humans who would be happy to be in your place."

Ken winced. 'Darling' was not one of his favorite pet names. "I'd switch places with them if I could."

Tomoe didn't comment. "I love the girl you're hanging around with by the way. She's very pretty, very polite as well."

Tomoe had met Kaoru?! Ken knew Kaoru would have mentioned any unusual meeting. Then again, Kaoru had no idea what Tomoe looked like. She could have passed her on the street and not known. But when had Kaoru been alone at night? Ken honestly didn't know. This was bad if Tomoe had access to Kaoru, very bad.

"How do you know about her?" Ken asked, unable to prevent steel from entering his tone.

Tomoe raised one elegant eyebrow at the change in his voice. "I saw you two together. You make a cute couple by the way. Is she a long term accessory? You have good taste."

In a corner of his mind, Ken knew Tomoe was trying to anger him, to set him on edge. He also knew she was succeeding. The quickest way to undermine his confidence was through Kaoru. Somehow, Tomoe had discovered that truth and was now going to use it against him. Manipulating bitch, Ken thought angrily, aware that there was nothing he could do to stem his emotions as far as Kaoru was concerned. He would just have to stomach Tomoe's words and come out on top in the end. He knew a few ways to get under her skin, and since she'd been the one to start the verbal battle, he had no qualms on finishing it.

"No, I owe my pursuit of her all to you, Tomoe. You set the example, forcing young humans with high energy levels on me. But unlike you, I don't intend to change her."

"Don't tell me you're still bitter over me turning you," Tomoe remarked, bemused. "I thought you'd have accepted your life by now. How long has it been? Around two hundred years?"

"Two hundred and three years," Ken told her, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice. "And I haven't forgiven you yet."

"I never asked you to," Tome said with a sip of her tea. Gently, she sat her cup down on the tea service. "So why did you call this meeting, Ken? From your behavior, I gather it wasn't a voluntary decision."

"I wouldn't have burdened you if I could see any other way out of my current situation."

Tomoe leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. "And just what is your situation?"

"I'm being blackmailed."

Tomoe flicked an imaginary piece of lint from her shoulder. "And I care because?"

"My blackmailer has ordered me to kill you."

Tomoe froze and stopped fussing over her sweater. Folding her hands in her lap, she gazed at Ken with interest. "I thought you didn't kill women," she remarked with the air of someone who'd just discovered that it wasn't supposed to rain tomorrow after all.

"I don't."

"Hmm. But I suppose you have to this time."

Ken gave her a slight nod. "Yes."

"So that's what the daisho is for. Tell me, do you know why you've been sent to kill me?"

"I can't give you that information."

"Respect for the blackmailer. You really are naïve," Tomoe observed with a slight air of wonder. Her hand drifted to her hair, which was done up elaborately with long silver pins. She twirled an errant strand around her finger, studying him. "I thought I taught you better."

Ken had opened his mouth to reply when Tomoe's wrist flicked in his direction. He glanced at her face. Her expression had not changed, but she'd just sent a six-inch silver needle slitting through the air towards his head. Ken blinked at the needle slicing towards him in disbelief. Where had she gotten a weapon? It hadn't been in her hand the whole time, or he would have noticed. He was sitting down, there was no way he could unsheathe his katana or wakizashi in time to deflect the needle from its target: his right eye.

Ken jerked his head violently to the left. The needle grazed his cheek, leaving nothing more than a slight sting and burning sensation in its wake. He preferred that over a punctured eye. She had already sent another needle flying in his direction, this time aimed for his chest. The needle was going to hit him. There was nothing he could do about it. Ken lurched up from his chair and leapt to the right. The needle pierced his left shoulder, hit bone, and started to burn its way through the flesh of his shoulder. With a grunt of disgust, Ken reached his right arm across his body and placed his fingers on base of the needle, where it had entered his skin. They started to burn as well. As quickly as possible, he yanked the needle free from his body and flung it into the wall. The needles had been silver. Keeping his eyes on Tomoe, Ken realized the needles were keeping Tomoe's hair up in that elaborate hairstyle. Since he wasn't finely acquainted with the methods women used to style their hair, he had no idea how many needles she had left.

She'd been watching him with a curious expression on her face the whole time, playing with her hair. Ken wondered how she could touch the needles to throw them at him when they were blessed silver. Only that type of metal would have burned him on contact with his flesh as her needles had.

"Let's see how quick you've gotten," Tomoe murmured. She smiled slightly. Again, it did not reach her eyes. "Draw your katana so you can at least block." She stretched. "I haven't had a good confrontation in a long time."

Ken figured he might as well try to reason with her. "I'd rather you let me make this painless."

Tomoe let out a low laugh and watched avidly as he drew his katana and slid to an attack stance. "Too slow."

Ken barely settled into his stance when he discovered he wouldn't be able to attack at all, not with his katana. Tomoe threw the needles with a speed and fluidity that let him know she practiced every night. Ken had not lifted a katana for ten years. At first he was barely able to deflect most of the needles, but then the rhythm of his sword style gradually began to control his movements. After studying the way the needles bounced off his katana, he started sending them back at her. She wasn't as fast as him, but had the advantage of having more weapons. Whenever he got too close, she simply sent a well placed needle towards his eyes, which he was forced to dodge haphazardly. And as she flitted around the room, she seemed to have no problem with reusing needles that had gotten stuck in the walls. But Ken was wearing her down. Unless she had a hidden supply of needles under the sofa, she was going to run out, her hair was falling down in waves to rest straight and black against her back.

And then she had no knives left. Ken couldn't miss this chance to kill her and be done with it. He cleared his mind and readied himself for the strike that would take off her head in a clean sweep. Tomoe smirked, he hesitated, and a gleaming katana was at his throat. Ken froze.

**  
A/N – So there you go. Finally, chapter 14! I hope you don't mind the cliffhanger too much, but this scene was way too long not to split up and I wanted to get a little Tomoe action in there. Hope you liked it. I welcome all feedback.**


	15. Tomoe Yukishiro, Part 2

**A/N – Ah another chapter. Thanks to the reviewers, ya'll know who you are. I appreciate each and every review.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Pocahontas. I don't own RK. If I did, I'd be writing episodes, not fanfiction.**

**  
**

**Silver Cross**

**  
Chapter 15 – Tomoe Yukishiro, Part 2**

_  
Darn Shirley Temple, she's making all the money.  
So?__ It's because she's cute.   
You call that cute! Just because she's got curly blonde hair. Ha! I've got spiked brown hair and look what that did for me. She's a witch.  
What'd she ever do to you?  
She wouldn't sign an autograph for me and my girl really wanted one.  
She's just a kid, Sano, and you're not the best looking adult out there. She was probably scared of you.  
Scared of me? Hey, I'm cuter than her! She's the scary one!_

"Can I start you out with a water?" Kaoru asked the seated customer. He was interesting as far as customers went, attractive in an obvious way. His dark brown hair was slightly curly, lending him a boyish appearance, though his brown eyes were flecked with annoyance. Although the L.A. night was hot, he was wearing a dark suit.

"Yeah, and get one for my friend as well. He's in the restroom."

Kaoru watched as the man took off the jacket of his suit as he talked and placed it on the chair behind him, revealing a pale green dress shirt. He undid a few buttons on the collar of his shirt. If nothing else, he was a good dresser, Kaoru thought as she placed two waters from the tray she'd been holding onto the table. The close cut of the suit showed off his slim profile, accentuating each muscle. He certainly was a lady killer. It was really too bad he was a vampire or she might have felt more at ease around him when he flashed her a rather insolent smile.

Kaoru held back a shudder and placed a menu on the table in front of him and one across for his friend. She smiled politely, which wasn't very hard considering she'd had a couple hours to practice. "I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order, sir."

The man nodded and turned his eyes away, dismissing her in an instant in favor of watching the performer on stage. Kaoru sighed inwardly and walked back towards the kitchen to retrieve an order for another table. She knew only a couple hours had passed, but for the life of her, it felt like a couple days.

Once she reached the kitchen, the cook told her five more minutes, so she decided to check on her customers. She my as well go for some tips since Ken didn't provide her with spending money. Just as Kaoru was about to venture into the main floor of the restaurant again, she caught a glimpse of a face she'd never thought she would ever see again.

Hoping he hadn't seen her, she ducked behind a huge fern plant, hoping against hope that he hadn't seen her. She watched intently as he sat down at the table of her newest customer, picked up the menu, and proceeded to study it. Kaoru studied him for a few moments, not caring how ridiculous her behavior might seem to the people in the kitchen. To her dismay, she came to the same conclusion. It was the same vampire from Club Shinta, the one who'd interviewed her for the job of contact while he and his friend were on vacation. Not for the first time, Kaoru wondered what had happened after she and Ken had escaped from the club. She hoped for her sake that the vampire hadn't been too put out when she'd fled. If he had been, that made it all the more likely that he would recognize her. Kaoru cursed her big mouth. Why hadn't she acted more meek back at the club, less memorable?

Darkness crept into her thoughts as she remembered the most important detail of that evening: that these men, well at least one of them, worked for the dark one. If the interviewer recognized her he'd put two and two together and figure out that she'd been a spy. And then… Kaoru didn't dare finish that sentence. True, Saitou had been assigned to protect her, but it would still be two against one. Plus, Kaoru wasn't at all sure how valiantly Saitou would fight to save her when he hadn't wanted to watch over her in the first place. And they were the dark one's men. Even if Saitou managed to fight them off the first time, they would surely have reinforcements. Granted, Saitou would have a few vampires at his disposal as well, but Kaoru had no doubt as to who would win in the end. She wasn't all that Ken on meeting the dark one without Ken behind her all the way, preferably in front of her.

Kaoru cast around frantically for another waitress. If she begged and forked over the money from her tips, she could probably persuade a girl to take an extra table. Then she would have a better chance of avoiding the notice of the dark one's followers. Typically, there were no waitresses within a hundred feet of her.

"Hey, new girl, your order's ready," the cook yelled.

Kaoru fairly dove away from the plant and towards the relative safety of the kitchen. She didn't want to take the chance that one of the men could have heard, and there was no way she wanted them to notice her.

"Don't let Ayame catch you still unless you're on break," the cook advised in low tones. "She'll fire you on the spot just to set an example."

Kaoru wanted to grumble that she wasn't even getting paid, so therefore she wasn't technically hired and that she could care less what Ayame thought when her life was in danger, but she swallowed her pride and managed to nod gravely. Arguing with Ken and Saitou, not to mention the effort it took to _not_ argue with a few picky customers, had worn her out. She had more pressing matters to worry about than a cook or Ayame catching her slacking.

Taking up the tray of food and squaring her shoulders, Kaoru summoned up the nerve to walk away from the kitchens and peer around the giant fern. Dismayed, Kaoru realized that to serve the food she was presently holding, she would have to walk past the table where the dark one's men sat. True, the man she'd recognized was sitting with his back to her, but that was about the only thing that counted in her favor. Hoping he wouldn't happen to turn and see her, she pasted a fake smile on her face and prayed.

_  
Have you ever seen the wolf cry to the blue corn moon?  
Nani?!  
For whether we are white or copper skinned, we need to sing with all the voices of the mountain, we need to paint with all the colors of the wind.  
I knew I shouldn't have let you drink this much.  
Pocahontas was hot in that movie. What'd John Smith do to get her?  
Sano, all that happened before you were born.  
You can paint with all the colors of the wind._

"Drop your katana," the masculine voice of the owner of the katana currently hovering around Ken's throat instructed.

Ken hesitated, if the man was inexperienced, he could probably disarm him with only a shallow gash across his throat. On the other hand, it was unnerving him that he hadn't sensed another vampire in the house. The man obviously knew how to hide his ki when he wanted to, that spoke of a warrior. There was no telling how old the man was, he could be centuries older than Ken, in which case he would be seasoned in battle and Ken had no chance of attempting to escape without it resulting in decapitation. But if he dropped his katana he would be defenseless and at the mercy of Tomoe, who would soon get around to torturing him slowly and painfully with the aid of the katana owner. Ken decided to risk decapitation. Knowing Tomoe, it was much more likely that this was a young vampire who had just been turned and was still dependant on her for survival. In which case, Ken could disarm him and be master of his own destiny once again.

"It's blessed silver. Drop your katana," the man said, drawing the blade close so that it touched Ken's throat. The burning started. Maybe if it hadn't been silver, Ken could have risked disobeying the command, but it was, and he had no choice but to do as the man ordered. He had Kaoru to think of. If he didn't come back he didn't want to know what would happen to her, and he wouldn't be able to stop the dark one and avenge Sano.

Reluctantly, Ken let his sword clatter to the ground, the impact of its falling muffled by the thick carpet. There went his hope of finishing Tomoe in a timely fashion. The slight smirk was fading from her face until it was gone as abruptly as it had come. Ken supposed she was above smirks in any case. The expression hadn't looked quite right on her features.

"He's probably got a wakizashi as well," Tomoe informed the man behind her coolly. She drew away from the wall she'd been standing against and took a few slow steps towards Ken and his assailant.

"Draw it and drop it," the male voice instructed. "Tomoe, get a chair so he can sit." Tomoe looked vaguely displeased to be ordered around, but disappeared from Ken's view to do as the man had asked.

The burning sensation from the katana at his throat was starting to get to him, Ken noted with dismay as he slowly drew his wakizashi and let it fall to the ground in front of him on top of his katana. In the back of his mind, Ken wondered how long the wound would take to heal. Then he realized he had more immediate issues to worry about, such as _if_ it would get the chance to heal. A chair shoved his legs just behind his knees and his legs gave out, forcing him to fall back. Luckily, he landed on the chair and the owner of the katana had managed not to chop off his head in the process. The man drew the katana slightly back so that it wasn't touching Ken's skin and walked around from behind to face him.

Ken had never seen him before in his life. The man was obviously of Japanese descent, with black hair and brown eyes. Ken estimated him to be a couple inches taller than himself, and though he held his katana in a well-practiced stance, he would be no match for Ken in an all-out battle. The man strove to appear stern and relaxed, but to Ken he came off as slightly nervous and tense. He had probably been turned recently. The man was not comfortable in his body, a fact which lent Ken another advantage. He had expected an old enemy to be allied with Tomoe, not a vampire hatchling. Perhaps the circumstances weren't as dire as he'd thought.

"Well Ken, I think introductions are in order," Tomoe said dryly as she entered Ken's field of vision from the left. She stopped a foot away from the unknown man. "This is Akira Kiyosato. He's the man following me around at the moment." She paused to cover her mouth as she yawned. "Akira is quite happy to fill the roll you shunned all those years ago."

Ken felt his eyes widen despite his best efforts to keep a straight face. He looked at the man with a katana to his throat in a new light. Just as she had charmed Ken over two hundred years ago, Tomoe had walked into this man's life and taken control, overwhelming him with her refined personality. At the time, it had hardly seemed possible to Ken that this woman could want anything to do with him, let alone a relationship. But she had pursued him, ignoring the advances of more seasoned men than himself, had dropped him enough hints to let him know she wanted him. Even in the midst of the brashness of his youth, he'd come to the conclusion that he could easily get what he wanted from her. And what had that been? Sex. He'd been fighting a war. There'd been no time for delicate relationships, no time for getting to know a woman.

Tomoe had been too good to be true, following him from battleground to battleground until she'd won his trust, which Ken had to admit hadn't taken very long. With Tomoe's arrival, thoughts of settling down with one of the girls from the village had been banished. Hadn't Ken been relieved? He'd been shy around women as a human, having grown up with all brothers. Tomoe had unburdened him from worry in the romance department. She'd focused her attentions on Ken, snubbing other men in the practiced manner only she could pull off. Back then, men had been stunned, shocked into silence. In present times her manner wasn't unusual, but back in nineteenth century Japan, she had made a statement. She had been a coveted prize. And Ken had won her with no effort at all.

He still wondered after all the years they had been apart – why him? Why Himura Kenshin, a man who had only been permitted to fight after defeating a high-ranking officer of the army because he was not a pureblooded Japanese man? What had she seen in him across the tavern that first night? Had she sensed the naïve youth who desperately sought to prove himself to his father by joining the war to avenge the death of his brothers? Had she been drawn to the kid with a soft-spot for women, a quality drilled into him by his mother? The young man who took lives without remorse? Whatever Tomoe had seen in him, she had been interested enough to pursue him for months.

Looking at her new prize, this man, Akira Kiyosato, Ken wondered how he'd ended up with her. Had she met him as a human and then turned him? Or had he been a newly turned vampire, searching for someone experienced to teach him the ropes of his new life? Was he in love with Tomoe?

"You seem surprised that Akira's with me, Ken. No need to worry. He's here by choice."

"You've always been above forcing people to hang out with you."

Tomoe laughed mirthlessly, the smooth tinkle of it falling on his shoulders with great weight. "It's strange hearing you speak such modern sayings. You bring back memories of old Japan for me. By the way, your English is excellent."

She was toying with him, the old cat and mouse trick. Ken hadn't found himself in the starring role of 'mouse' for decades. He still was no more used to it now then he ever had been.

"Yours is too. Why haven't you killed me yet?"

"I think you should be asking Akira that question. While I have no qualms when it comes to defending myself against you, I would never actually kill you."

Ken had serious doubts about that statement.

"Akira's not the one in charge here," Ken argued gamely.

She rewarded him with a small smile. "Well you're right about that now, aren't you," she mumbled, half to herself. "Even though you called this meeting to kill me, I agreed to this meeting to talk. I want information, and the grapevine says you're usually in the middle of every abrupt change that goes on in our culture."

Ken blinked. It was strange hearing Tomoe use the phrase 'goes on.'

"I feel a change coming," she stated simply. "So tell me about it," she finished, seating herself gracefully on the loveseat behind, and to the left of Akira.

There was no way in Hell that Ken was going to tell Tomoe anything. In any case, she doubtless knew a lot more than him.

"Are you sure it's wise to just let him sit there?" Akira asked doubtfully, keeping his eyes on Ken. "He's dangerous."

"Everything is fine, Akira," Tomoe assured smoothly. "Just don't let your guard down, no matter where the topic of conversation may stray. Ken, I am requesting again: tell me about it."

Ken shrugged, an action that was not easy with the katana mere millimeters from his throat, but he managed to pull it off smoothly. "You probably know more than me." He honestly had no clue what she wanted from him. If rumor had circulated that he was deeply involved in the Juppongatana because of his appearance with Saitou, then she'd likely want secret from the organization, but such rumors were false. Ten years ago he would've had something to hide, but all that information was outdated.

"That may be true, but I need to know what you know. I sense that we're on opposite sides, Ken."

"Whose side are you on?" Ken asked readily.

"I figured you would know by now. I guess your intelligence sources aren't as reliable as I'd assumed."

Ken ignored Akira and stared into her eyes. She hadn't answered him, hadn't shown him respect since he'd set eyes on her again after two hundred odd years. She still viewed him as the vampire he'd been back then, immature, inexperienced, and easily manipulated.

Tomoe seemed amused at his silence. Ken had been hoping for annoyed. Without a trace of frustration, she continued. "I've struck a deal of sorts with the dark one. I suppose you could say we're uneasy allies."

Ken wasn't surprised, not really. Tomoe must have been the woman Katsu had mentioned to him in New York, the woman who had suddenly appeared at the dark one's side. Some how, Myojin had found out it was her. He'd found out that she and Ken had a history, that she was the one who had made Ken a vampire. Myojin had known that Ken had the best chance of killing her. Kaoru had been a convenient and easy way for him to blackmail Ken into executing her for him.

"I suppose you want to know why," Tomoe continued. "The dark one is a means to an end, nothing more. I really am surprised that the Juppongatana sent you to kill me. I do believe Saitou has been itching for that honor." She leaned forward slightly. "Tell me, Ken, what are they using to blackmail you?"

"It's not your concern," Ken told her, almost angry. She'd hit the mark seemingly without trying.

"Is it that girl, Ken?" She searched his face for a moment. "Yes, I rather think it is. By the way, I love your facial expressions."

Ken ignored the jibe. "Who else is working for the dark one?"

"I don't think you're in the position to ask the questions, Ken."

"Who else, Tomoe? I know about Cho, Anji, Shurra, and Yutaro."

"So your sources aren't as hopeless as I thought. Why were you in New York though, Ken? Was it just to speak to Cho, or to have a little chit chat with your friends, the Shinomoris?"

Ken glared at her, cursing himself for speaking Cho's name. As soon as he'd said it, she'd known he'd been in New York recently.

Tomoe sighed. "I didn't suppose you'd tell me. I suppose this calls for heavier questioning then. Akira, search him. He's probably carrying more weapons in that overcoat of his." Tomoe stood and swept out of the room in one fluid motion. Ken and Akira were left watching each other warily. Akira spoke first.

"I have trained in the Shigekura sword style all my life. Don't try to escape."

Ken said nothing as the young vampire kept his eyes and katana steady and reached gingerly into the first of many pockets on Ken's overcoat. Withdrawing his hand, his eyes flickered to the object in his palm – Ken's key ring.

"I didn't take you for a car thief," Ken commented, sure he could provoke the younger man into a rash action.

"Shut up. The only reason I haven't killed you is because Tomoe wants to play with you first."

"I doubt you've ever killed anyone your whole life."

"There's always a first time," Akira retorted, taking his eyes off Ken's for a split second to toss the keys on the end table behind him. Then, once again, he met Ken's stare and reached into another pocket. This time Akira was rewarded with something more rewarding, a capped needle. Since he couldn't very well toss it on the table behind him, for fear it would break, Akira did a dumb and very naïve thing – he took his eyes off Ken's for a split second and leaned his body back from the fighting stance it had been locked in.

Ken took the opportunity and lunged.

_  
Whu__ id wu eba oo wu-oot ooth-wuff, Wen?  
I did not understand one word that just came out of your mouth.  
I said, what did we ever do without toothpaste, Ken? It always leaves my teeth sparkling white.  
You sound like a cheesy commercial._

It all would have gone fine for Kaoru if the woman at the table next to her had not laughed. But she did, causing both of the dark one's vampires to look up. Luckily for her, she had her back to the one that would have recognized her, but not so luckily, the other man looked straight at her.

"Miss, would you take our orders as soon as you're done serving that tray?" he asked.

Kaoru was petrified, but to her credit, she didn't let out the little squeak of fear that was building inside her. Instead, she nodded, said a polite – of course, sir, and moved on. Kaoru served the tray in a daze. There was no way she could avoid the notice of the vampire she'd met in New York now. All she could do was keep hoping for a miracle. Maybe the man had been so busy that night that he wouldn't recognize her now, especially since her hair, which had been down that night, was now up in a neat bun. She wasn't wearing any make-up either, and Kamatari had certainly applied laborious amounts to her face that night. She was relatively confident that as long as she kept her voice sweet and said as little as possible, he wouldn't recognize her right away. Having boosted her confidence, she handed the empty tray over to a bell-boy and made her way to the table.

"Hi there, what can I get you gentlemen tonight?" she asked, careful to seem at ease in her role as waitress.

The man she didn't know ordered first, while the other glanced over the menu. "I'd like the domburi."

Kaoru scribbled down the order. "What topping would you like on top?"

"Just gyudon."

"Alright. Anything else?"

"A rice bowl as well."

"Yes, sir. And what would you like to drink?"

"Hmm. Sencha tea."

"Alright, sir. And you?" Kaoru asked, addressing the other man. He finally looked up at her. Kaoru held her breath. No hint of recognition dawned in his eyes. She let out a small sigh of relief as his eyes flickered back to the menu.

"I'll take the okonomiyaki, bencha tea, and some melon soda."

Kaoru nodded. "Anything else, sir?" Kaoru asked, thankful to be busy scribbling.

"No."

"Very well, I'll just take your menus then," Kaoru finished with a smile, retrieving the menus and turning to walk away. She was already breathing much easier. Then she caught a strain of the conversation the two men had started with each other after she had left.

"I swear I've seen that girl somewhere before."

_  
What did you think of that movie they made off of Braham Stoker's **Dracula**?  
Most directors have assiduously avoided the sexual overtones of the novel, but I thought this version of it was uncharacteristically well done in a tacky almost Playboy manner.  
... Um, smaller words?  
It was okay._

Tomoe shouldn't have left the room, Ken thought in mid-lunge. She shouldn't have left the room and left Ken alone with a new vampire. It didn't matter that the vampire was Akira because any young vampire was at a disadvantage against one that was older. Turned at the beginning of the 1800s, Ken was a relatively young vampire compared to most. He could only be thankful that the old ones with the most power tended to watch behind the sidelines, as Hiko made a practice of doing, and did not involve themselves in the affairs of the young. The States were filled mostly with younger vampires in any case, the old countries, Europe and Africa, being the favorite haunts of the elder of his species.

All this flashed through Ken's mind until his hand closed around the hilt of his katana, the cold hilt of the sword shut out all thought. He heard the sound of Akira yelling in the background and renewed his effort. Ken knew his speed was a blur even to the average vampire. He willed himself to be fast enough, fast enough to lift the katana and block the swing that was even now arcing towards his shoulder, fast enough to defend himself so that he could confront the dark one, fast enough so that he didn't die in the middle of nowhere on a ranch, fast enough to get back to Kaoru, who was even now waiting for him, needing him.

Miraculously, he was fast enough. He was once again armed with only a slash on his right shoulder courtesy of Akira to belie the fact that he'd lost his katana in the first place

"Damn," Akira swore as he pressed his blade against Ken's. "You're fast."

"You shouldn't take your eyes from your opponent. Where did Tomoe go?"

They both jumped back at the same time, katanas raised. "Forget Tomoe, your fight is with me."

"Akira?"

Tomoe's voice. Ken could remember the times when she'd said his name in exactly that tone. His suspicion was confirmed when Akira's eyes flickered to the woman standing in the doorway between them, even though he knew the risk. Akira was in love with Tomoe. It made sense. She was tempting, beautiful, a woman any man would be proud to claim as his. So she'd won Akira and turned him, the same as she had Ken.

It was time to end it, time to dismiss Akira's presence and end Tomoe's life. Ken could deal with Akira after she was nothing but ash and bone. No doubt he'd either fall apart or fly at Ken in a murderous rage. Either possibility would be easy for Ken to handle. Decision made, Ken turned towards Tomoe. She knew. He saw it in her eyes. Strangely enough, she didn't look at all distressed that he meant to kill her. She didn't look at all disturbed by the fate that was staring her in the eyes.

Akira didn't bother to yell. His speed must have been born of desperation, Ken thought later, because there was no other way he could have pulled it off, no way he could have saved Tomoe, prolonged her life for a few more moments. But he did. He blocked Ken's swing. As Ken strove to blink away the surprise he knew was reflected in his eyes, Akira brought up the needle with his other hand. The needle he'd drawn from Ken's pocket. The needle that was filled with holy water.

It was Akira's youth that saved Ken. No doubt, he'd never killed before, and was hesitant to start. Whatever the reason, he shut his eyes as he drove the needle into flesh, as he pushed the stopper down until there was no holy water left in the syringe. Ken's wide eyes were not on Akira as the other man opened his, as the shock washed Akira's face slack, devoid of emotion for a still moment in time. Ken's eyes were on Tomoe.

"Why?" Akira asked, as his katana fell from his hand, creating a muffled thump on the carpet.

"Go to the dark one," Tomoe's voice came unruffled, breaking the strained silence. "Tell him the Battousai killed me."

Tomoe collapsed.

Against his will, Ken found himself dropping his katana and reaching out to break her fall, sinking down to the ground with the weight of her body in his arms. In the back of his mind he heard Akira's retreating steps, heard a door slam and a car start, the tread of the tires on the gravel driveway, the engine fading away into the night.

"I know you want to know why I did it."

Her voice was calm as it had been when she'd said hello to him again for the first time in two hundred years, as serene as it had been when she'd said hello to him the first time he'd met her.

She'd saved him from death a second time. And now he was in her debt. "I want to know," he admitted, wondering how long she had left before the holy water spreading throughout her body reached her heart and killed her. Her head was lying in his lap. She struggled weakly to sit up, but succeeded only in leaning against him with Ken's help, her face against his chest, long ebony hair flowing down her back.

"I made you into a vampire. I could not watch you die."

"Then why not call Akira off?"

She suppressed a cough weakly. "I knew you had holy water. I could sense it. I'm much older than you. I saw my chance to rid myself of this life and decided to take it." Her voice, ever clear, was becoming raspy. "I'm not strong enough. I wouldn't have done it on my own."

Ken shook his head, staring down at the woman he'd hated since he'd been turned, lying in his arms. "Why me?"

A coughing fit took her, leaving her body shaking against him. "You were the first vampire I ever made. I could not watch you die."

Ken shook his head again. "I don't believe you. You hate me. I'd kill you in a heartbeat."

"Maybe I do hate you," Tomoe breathed shallowly. "Akira will tell the dark one it was you who killed me. You'll get your wish to confront the dark one soon. I've given you a gift."

Ken was disturbed. He hadn't been able to hold onto the hatred he'd felt for Tomoe, the hatred that had kept him going in those early weeks when he'd first been turned, until he'd gained enough strength to leave her. As much as Ken wanted to, he couldn't truly hate her, not while she was dying in his arms. He realized that he hadn't hated her for a long time. At some point in his life he'd forgiven her, a fact that was uncharacteristic of him. Perhaps he'd forgiven her because of the fear that if he did stumble upon her again, he would kill her because of that hate and not be able to live with himself. He had executed only detached kills during the last few years of his human life. He had never killed from passion, only from necessity.

She was still shivering in his arms. For some twisted reason, he was fascinated. He'd never actually witnessed the effects of an injection of holy water. Her pale skin was growing rosy with color, and tiny beads of sweat accompanied the flushed face. Her breathing was labored, as if she'd just escaped a dangerous undertow and come up for air. Her skin radiated heat, sending an unpleasant rush of warmth through his body from the points where her skin came in contact with his clothes. She smelled like burning incense.

"You should have let me kill you quickly if you wanted death."

Tomoe sighed. "I don't want you responsible for my death. I know you've never killed a woman before. I deserve this pain."

Tomoe had been considerate of him when she'd jumped in front of Ken? He hadn't expected anything resembling mercy from her. It had been easier to hate her blindly, to dismiss the pleasant times they had spent together as an act. Suddenly, Ken had to know. Had it been an act, her seduction of him?

The heat from her face burned through his shirt. "Why did you turn me, Tomoe?"

She met his eyes. "At the time I first saw you," she started as she painstakingly lifted her right hand to touch his cheek. Her fingers were so hot it hurt. "I'd been alone since my master abandoned me. I knew you would be easy to sway. You were young and all alone in that war."

"So it was because I was young and dumb," Ken summed up, unable to keep the bitterness from his tone. The novelty of his red hair and strange eyes had probably been a bonus. She'd seen him as a prize to be won, a distraction from her solitary lifestyle.

"Yes," Tomoe confirmed, her voice soft and fading. "I've always favored you over the others since then." She closed her eyes and her hand slid from his face to rest in her lap. "Perhaps Akira and I could have had something eventually. He was turned only to be with me." She smiled her classic smile, the expression oddly misplaced on her damp flushed face.

Ken realized she probably wouldn't open her eyes again. "Tomoe, where's the dark one going to attack first? Where is it now?"

"I don't know."

"That's a lie. If Akira knows, you know," Ken countered fiercely. "Damn you Tomoe, tell me."

"The Juppongatana should be wary."

Her voice was a whisper now, almost clogged by the fluid in her throat.

"Why is it starting on the west coast? What did you want from it? Where did Akira go?" Ken asked, almost yelling. He had a feeling she was drifting far away and could barely hear him. He watched as she swallowed with difficulty.

"Akira? I bet he didn't check your license plate number, stupid boy. Tell him I forgive him when you see him." She sighed, her exhaling breath a gentle puff of searing air on his skin.

"Who betrayed Sano to the dark one? Why are you working for him? How long will he stay in L.A.?"

"They'll be here in ten minutes," Tomoe whispered. "Go." Her whole body writhed in his hands as she suppressed a bought of coughing. "It has something you want. Don't fight tonight."

"What does the dark one have that I want? Tomoe? Tomoe? Tomoe?"

She was still. She was dead. Tomoe was dead. Her body began to crumble in his arms. Ken stood in disgust, retrieving his katana from its position near her and drawing back to watch as her body started rapidly disintegrating. She would be ashes soiling the carpet in five minutes. Tomoe Yukishiro, the vampire who had made him, was dead.

Ten minutes. He had ten minutes until the dark one's vampires would arrive. Ken realized that the pressure from her fingers had burned him, he had a wicked burn mark across his throat, a hole in his left shoulder where Tomoe had thrown the needle, a slash on his left cheek from the very first needle, and Akira had sliced his right shoulder when he'd bent down to retrieve his katana. Ken reached down and retrieved one of Tomoe's canine teeth to give to Saitou as proof that he'd killed her. Stopping only to get his car keys from the table where Akira had replaced them and to untie the unconscious caretaker, he sprinted the mile back to his car. He couldn't let his thoughts dwell on the scene that had just transpired until he went to the dealership to trade in his car on the off chance that Akira had taken note of his license plate. No, he wouldn't think of Tomoe until he had picked up Kaoru, dealt with Saitou, thanked Ayame, and passed out at the apartment.

_  
What happened to the one who turned you?  
He left me.  
Have you ever tried to find him?  
… No. Though perhaps someday, he'll find me._

They were finally leaving. It had taken all of Kaoru's willpower to resist the urge to run away screaming each time she approached their table. But they hadn't seemed to recognize her, hadn't given her any strange looks or dropped hints that they recognized her from New York. Kaoru concluded that she'd gotten away with it after all as she returned from taking their plates from the kitchen. She flashed them the smile she reserved for customers as they walked in her direction. They must have stopped by the bathroom to wash up before they left if they were still at the restaurant.

"Thanks for the excellent service, miss," the one she hadn't met before said.

"No problem," Kaoru replied, uneasy that they'd stopped to compliment her.

"If only you'd hung around to service us in New York," the one she recognized mumbled. "Watch your back, bitch."

Kaoru glared up at him. "You're the one with the back that needs watching."

"Somehow, I doubt that," the man replied, flashing her the same insolent smile he had when he'd first laid eyes on her, and brushing past her. The other man shrugged and followed his friend out the door.

Kaoru turned to watch the two men exit the restaurant. She didn't notice Saitou staring speculatively after them as well.

****

******  
A/N – Thanks for reviewing. You deserve an explanation about the food. So here it is. This information is from www. japan-guide. com/e/e2035. html and japan.chez.tiscali.fr/Cuisine/E-Boissons.htm.**

******Domburi**** - **A bowl of cooked rice with some other food put on top of the rice. Some of the most popular toppings are tempura (tendon), egg and chicken (oyakodon), tonkatsu (katsudon) and beef (gyudon).

******Gyudon**** – **beef

******Rice bowl** - A bowl of rice is frequently served as a side dish for lunch and dinner, and as a main dish for breakfast when it is eaten plain, mixed with a raw egg and soya sauce (tamago-kake-gohan) or with natto or various other toppings.

******Okonomiyaki**** - **Okonomiyaki is a mix between pizza and pancake. Various ingredients such as seafood, vegetables and meat can be mixed with the dough and placed on the okonomiyaki as topping.

******Sencha and bencha tea** - Tea (nihoncha) accompanies all the Japanese meals, at home and in the restaurants. There are several varieties of tea: sencha, bencha, kôcha, matcha, etc..., the most common being sencha and the matcha being reserved for the tea ceremony. Most of the time the tea is drunk cold but it is appreciated ice-cold or hot as well, and generally without sugar.

******Melon soda** -As in almost all countries of the world, American sodas companies are dominant on the Japanese market. However some Japanese soft drink manufacturers thrive by selling some original drinks as, for example, the melon soda.


	16. That Girl

**A/N – Now that we've had two chapter with all action and zero to nil fluff, I kinda miss it. Here's some more plot careening your way. Shout out to the reviewers and all the readers. I'm honored that you're still reading this story.**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Kenshin. I don't own Nissan. I wish I owned a Hummer.**

******-**

**********Silver Cross  
**

******-**

**********Chapter 16 – That Girl**

****************

_ Emily Dickinson was depressing._

_ Why do you say that?_

_ Well she shut her self in her room all her life and wrote stuff like "The bustle in the house / The morning after death / Is solemnest of industries" and blah blah blah. Who writes about shit like that?_

_ It's not like you're going to write anything worthwhile. If you're going to complain, publish your own book._

_ Very funny.  
  
_

Ayame rushed into the room, flurries of drama eddying in her wake to fill even the darkest crevices of the room. She paused in her haste to shut the door behind her before speaking.

"Do you know what it does to me when you go off without an explanation on one of your crazy intelligence missions?" she asked, rushing over to where Ken stood waiting for her in the middle of the room. "I don't even want to know how that girl feels! How could you?" she accused, jabbing him accusingly with her right index finger.

Ken sighed. This was Ayame. She'd always worried about Sano and him whenever they'd left her to deal with other vampires. "Hello to you too, Ayame. Are you going to offer me a seat?" he asked dryly.

"Oh you can have a seat, all right. Sit down. I want to talk to you," she agreed indignantly, motioning for him to sit in one of the chairs, as she moved to sit behind her desk. Pressing a speaker button, she instructed iced tea to be brought to her office. "You certainly look beat up. Do I want to know what happened?"

"It would be best if you didn't. Thank-you for allowing Kaoru to stay here while I was gone. I appreciate it."

"Like I said before, I'm forever in your debt, so it was no big deal," Ayame shrugged calming now that the subject was business, "besides, she's an excellent waitress. Who am I to argue against free labor? I told her I'd let her keep her tips, but I'm still profiting by not paying her by the hour."

"I assume Saitou's still here?"

Ayame winced. "Yes. I need to talk to Tokio about that man's attitude," she sighed. "Ken, are you sure you don't want to stay with me? I have an excellent security system and I'm sure you'll be safer with me than wherever you're staying with that girl."

Ken allowed a small smile to grace his face. "No. We're fine."

"Well at least give me your cell phone number, it didn't register on my phone when you called for some reason."

"It's not supposed to register. Until this is over, I don't want you connected with me in any way after tonight. Sano's ghost would come back for vengeance if you were hurt because of me."

A light knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," Ayame called.

A waitress entered with the tray of iced tea and left just as quickly, closing the door softly behind her.

"Ken," Ayame continued, "there's something I think you need to ask the girl."

Ken raised an eyebrow in question as he sipped his tea.

"A couple hours ago she served some questionable vampires. I had one of my security officers check them out on our database." Ayame picked up a remote control and pressed a few buttons. Panels on the wall to Ken's left slid away to reveal a television screen. Two men's faces were displayed in photos taken while they dined at a table in the restaurant. "For the past five years they've had some shady dealings in Chicago. Only recently, they relocated to L.A. I'm ninety-five percent sure that they're working for the dark one."

Ayame's information had Ken sitting ramrod straight in his chair. "Did they try to hurt her?"

"No. But from the way she was acting, she knew them. The three of them exchanged words briefly as the two men were leaving the restaurant. They spoke too quietly for the microphones to pick up over the background noise, but if you want, I can get my sound technicians to filter out the other noise. You'd have to come back tomorrow though."

Ken leaned back in his chair. "That won't be necessary. Kaoru will tell me what happened. Did Saitou recognize them?"

Ayame shook her head. "No, but he did pick up on the fact that she knew them and he observed the three of them until the two men left. He probably heard the conversation between your girl and those men. No doubt he'll report it to the leader of the Juppongatana."

Ayame pressed another button and Kaoru was visible on the screen, serving a table of four. He hadn't really expected to see her again. Watching her newly fascinated him. She was almost as she had been the day he'd first seen her from across the floor of the Akabeko. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she looked slightly aggravated each time she turned away from a customer's table to head to the kitchen. Ken watched as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and hurried to the side of the restaurant where the kitchen was located, no doubt to hand a cook the orders she had just taken.

"I guess this means you're not going to settle down with me," Ayame stated, observing Ken. "Are you that in love with her?"

Ken transferred his gaze from Kaoru on the screen to the woman sitting across from him. "Why do you want to know?"

"Hello, Ken! It's me, Ayame, the matchmaker. You know as well as I do that I tried for years to hook you up." She sighed. "I'm glad it didn't work back then, I guess. I was happy when it was just you, me, and Sano. Those were good times."

Ken allowed himself a brief smile before bringing her back to the present. "I need to get going, Ayame," he reminded her.

She blinked. "You're right. Want me to call the girl and Saitou in and let you three have a talk in my office? I've been away from the restaurant too long as it is."

Ken nodded. "Thanks again. I'll be in touch when this is over."

"No problem," Ayame welcomed him, pressing more buttons so that the television screen was covered up by the wall again. She stood and Ken followed suit. To his surprise, she hugged him fiercely. "Stay safe, Ken. I don't want to lose you like we lost Sano. I'll get the girl and Saitou on my way out."

Ken hugged her back, not daring to allow his mind to recall those years when it had been just the three of them for the most part. Those were memories for another night. She kissed his cheek and withdrew her arms from around him.

"Find that guy you've been looking for, Ayame."

"Guy?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"You know," Ken half-joked, looking down at her, "the one you're going to settle down with."

Ayame smirked and pushed him away. "He's gonna have to be the one to find me because I refuse to waste my time searching," she declared, sweeping away towards the door. "Would you like me to send the girl or Saitou first?"

Ken considered. He wanted to see Kaoru, but it would be better if she wasn't there to witness Ken handing the canine he'd taken from Tomoe's ashes over to Saitou for him to take back to the Juppongatana as proof of her death. And considering Saitou and Kaoru's tendency to argue with each other, it would be better if Saitou was gone by the time she arrived.

"Send Saitou first. Thanks again, Ayame."

She winked at him, flashing the thumbs up gesture. "No problem. Bye, Ken. Good luck with that girl." Shaking her head, she withdrew from her office, leaving the door ajar.

_  
Did it have to rain tonight?_

_ We've got umbrellas, so what's the problem?_

_ It mutes my senses. I can't smell blood as easily as a clear day._

_ Well we're all in the same situation. At least, we're not getting wet._

_ I guess so._

_ As E. M. Forster once said, 'All men are equal – all men, that is to say, who possess umbrellas.'_

_ You're bull-shitting me._

_ No way. Would I have made up a dumb phrase like that?_

_ Yes._

"Miss Kamiya, come with me to the locker-room."

"What? Why?" Kaoru asked, confused. Business had lulled and she was between customers. Kaoru knew she hadn't been doing anything wrong, but why else would Ayame want to talk with her privately? Unless she had some news about Ken, or better yet, Ken himself. But then why wouldn't Ken come get her personally?

"Isn't the locker-room where your things are stored?" Ayame asked mildly before turning and walking away.

Kaoru wasn't too keen on being alone in a room with Ayame and glanced around for Saitou, only to find the table he'd been sitting at all night vacant. This was a hell of a time for him to use the restroom, if vampires even needed to use the restroom. But if they ate food, which Kaoru realized they didn't really need to do in the first place, it only made sense that they had to use the restroom. In any case, now wasn't the time to worry about whether Saitou had gone to the bathroom or not, Kaoru scolded herself as she followed Ayame away from the dull roar of the restaurant's customers chattering away.

"Are you planning on sticking by Ken?" Ayame asked as soon as they were alone in the locker room and Kaoru had taken off her apron and retrieved her purse from the locker where she'd stashed it earlier.

"Of course I am," Kaoru replied, wondering why Ayame had bothered to ask. Was the restaurant owner interested in Kaoru, or was she merely curious about the relationship between Kaoru and Ken?

Ayame's eyes narrowed. "For your sake, you had better."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaoru asked, bristling. She'd had a long night and wasn't about to finish it off by letting a vampire threaten her, no matter how much influence the woman had.

"It means I will not tolerate a young, stupid girl worming her way into Ken's heart and taking advantage of him, that's what it means."

"Are you suggesting that I'm the young, stupid girl you're so against?!" Kaoru asked in disbelief. She hadn't expected this kind of talk from Ayame.

"If the shoe fits," Ayame confirmed not-so-subtly, crossing her arms.

"Well I don't see why you care. You flirt with every man you see!" Kaoru snapped back before she could catch herself.

Ayame narrowed her eyes. "That's business. In case you haven't figured it out yet, vampires don't actually need to eat. If I didn't act so pleasant, not a fourth of the customers would come."

Kaoru was not about to admit she'd only figured that out minutes ago. "You're in the middle of Los Angeles. What about human customers?"

"I don't deal in money so much as in information. The high prices are such because only vampires with experience and money saved over time can afford to come here on a regular basis, vampires with information to share." Ayame scoffed as if that was common sense. "I'm only telling you this because Ken's gotten attached to you. You need to know that what's valuable in this world isn't money, but knowledge."

"Who are you to preach to me?" Kaoru asked, stung that Ayame thought of Ken as only 'attached' to her, as if she was his favorite pair of socks. "I'm not a little girl. I know what's important in life. Money is never a motive for anything I do if that's what you're suggesting."

"You know what's important in _your_ world, not Ken's. Human as you are, what hope do you have of understanding that knowledge, strength, and ingenuity are what matter most in the life of a man like Ken? You have no knowledge of this world besides what Ken has told you, and as a human your strength will always be inferior to that of any vampire. I will allow that you're clever, or Ken wouldn't waste his time on you, but you are only a hindrance to Ken, one that will eventually get him killed."

Kaoru considered Ayame's words, but no matter how selfish it was of her, she couldn't take them to heart. Most of her was glad of that fact. Kaoru knew that she wasn't a toy to break and throw away and that Ken didn't think of her that way. And if he ever had, he was long cured of that assumption. But a small part of her, the part that existed in a constant state of guilt from cheating on Sou, slowing Ken down, hiding the truth from her parents – that part wondered if it wouldn't be better to let Ken send her home the next time he tried to ship her back. That part argued that it would be better, not for her, but for Ken, if she wasn't around to distract him, or be used as a blackmail tool, or to bail out of trouble.

But most of her dismissed what Ayame stated and was shrewd enough to read between the lines. Ayame must know that Ken was safe, or she wouldn't be trying to make Kaoru doubt herself. Besides, Kaoru didn't think for a minute that Ken could take on the dark one without her help, even though the root of that opinion must lie deep within her ego. And if she left Ken now and waited for him back home, and if he didn't come back, then she would never know if he was dead, or if one of his friends had simply convinced him that it would be better for them both if he left her alone. Ayame would likely jump at the chance to have that particular privilege. There was no way Kaoru was going to let Kenshin Himura get away that easily.

"Is he here?" Kaoru asked, knowing that Ayame could see the hope in her eyes and hating herself for letting it show.

Ayame ignored her question. "What's wrong with you that you'll let Ken put his life in danger? It would be best for both of you if you went back where you came from."

"Listen to yourself," Kaoru broke in, her temper rising, "you're acting like a jealous girlfriend. I respect you, Ayame. I'm half in awe of you, especially after the way your presence made Ken relax when you greeted us last night. He even stood and hugged you, offered you his chair. I was envious of you for that." She paused to take a deep breath. "I'm telling you flat out that I don't intend to desert Ken. I'm not leaving him."

Kaoru watched as Ayame raised her eyes to meet her stare. She wondered what was going on in the other woman's head. She certainly couldn't tell from her outward appearance. The brown orbs revealed nothing on a face relaxed in a polite smile.

"I only hope you mean what you say," Ayame stated finally. Her probing eyes were full of silent questions and doubts. Kaoru was just about to press the issue and confront her again when she abruptly turned and walked to the door. "Ken's here," Ayame informed her, pausing at the door. "Keep any tips you received and follow me."

Ken was back. Ken was okay. She was going to see him again. He must have been exaggerating after all when he said he might not come back. Kaoru refused to attribute his success to luck. She was a firm believer in his ability to defend himself, even if Ayame had tried to make her doubt him. After being gone for so many hours, he must have found Tomoe. He must have killed Tomoe. Kaoru couldn't allow herself to digest the face that a life had been snuffed out because of her and still expected to function. Thoughts of the unknown woman called Tomoe would have to be saved for daylight hours, when she could mourn for her without interruption.

As Kaoru followed Ayame, she realized that in her heart, she didn't really think Ken had killed her. Maybe she hadn't shown up at the meeting spot. Maybe Ken had been gone for hours only because he'd taken the opportunity to do some investigating on his own. Sure, and maybe she wasn't really in L.A. Maybe this whole experience was one big hallucination. Maybe her body was lying in a rehab clinic because she'd overdosed on ecstasy. Maybe she'd dreamed her entire life from eighth grade on and would wake up any minute in middle school again.

"… meeting with your leader tomorrow. He's to come to me. He owes me," Ken's voice came to her ears. If she was dreaming, may she never wake again. Did it take only a few hours to forget the feelings his voice invoked in her spirit and body?

"He'll call you," Saitou's voice answered. Then the man himself was in front of her, Ayame having turned and entered the room where the two men had been talking. "I hope you know how to bandage wounds, Kamiya," Saitou said to her as he passed. "The ones he has won't heal overnight." And he was gone without another word.

Kaoru dismissed his abrupt exit and prepared to enter, steeling herself so she wouldn't flip out, no matter how bad Ken's injuries were. Ayame flooded out from the room before Kaoru could lift a foot to start walking. The vampire flashed a winning smile in Kaoru's direction, rushed past her, and was gone, back to the restaurant. Kaoru blinked. What could have caused the complete reversal of the woman's temperament in literally five seconds?

Ken walked into the hallway.

Her hair was still up in the messy bun, but more than a few tendrils had escaped the hair-tie to frame her flushed face. She had a death grip on the purse she held clutched at her side. Her blue-jeaned, legs were positioned slightly apart in a ready stance. She looked just as shocked to see him as he felt seeing her. Ken kept his eyes on hers, watching as her gazed roved up and down his body, no doubt taking in his injuries. He wanted to tell her it wasn't as bad as it looked, but he knew she was seeing his torn trench coat and the scar on his cheek. He'd had to keep the coat on or walk around in the black t-shirt he had on underneath, which was covered in dried blood. Human eyes weren't likely to detect the blood, but vampire eyes and smell were too keen to miss it. As it was, Ken had had to stop before he'd come back from Ayame's for a quick feeding session. He'd lost most of the blood he'd fed on the night before when he'd torn his shoulder wound open after the short fight.

Kaoru stepped forward and slid her arms up and around his neck, hugging him gingerly in consideration of the injuries she knew must be hidden by his coat. "I missed you," she said in his ear as she breathed in his scent, a thrill going through her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him.

The tense moment was gone. Ken sighed, reveling in the warmth of her body pressed against his. He hadn't realized how cold he'd been, despite the face that he'd fed scarcely a half hour ago. He wished she wasn't wearing the silver cross earrings, so he could kiss her thoroughly, to hell with the fact that they were standing in the hallway of a public restaurant.

"Let's get back to the apartment, I'm parked illegally again."

Kaoru pushed away enough to look up into his face. "You know, a trench coat looks really out of place in the summer."

"Not in L.A."

Kaoru grinned, withdrawing her arms from the embrace. "I really missed you. Can I drive back for once?"

Ken sighed again and released her to dig in his coat for the keys. "I had to trade cars," he informed her, handing her the keys.

"No more Nissan? I liked that car," Kaoru pouted, grabbing his left hand and tugging him gently towards the door. "What'd you lease instead?"

"A Hummer."

Kaoru squealed and dragged him outside.

_  
All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weeeasel. The monkey stopped to pull up his socks… Pop! Goes the weeeasel._

_ Um…_

_ 3,6,9, the goose drank wine. The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line. The line broke, the monkey got choked, and they all went to heaven on a little row boat._

_ Um…_

_ Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily merrily. Life is but a dream._

_ Ken…_

"I drove a Hummer," Kaoru exclaimed, replaying the experience over in her mind. "I drove a Hummer!"

You'd think I hadn't almost died or anything, Ken grumbled to himself as he unlocked the apartment door. He knew it was silly to be jealous of a car, especially a car that he'd leased with his own money, but he was. Not that he'd be admitting that any time soon, not when she was so happy. She'd fairly radiated warmth and heat the whole way back home, even more so than when he'd let her drive the 300ZX. If he'd known Kaoru had such a car fetish, he would have let her drive more often, or at least bought her a car magazine or something.

Opening the door, he watched, bemused, as she waltzed past him, no doubt still caught up in the glory of driving the hummer. She continued on without a faltering step through the doorway and straight to the bathroom, shedding the car keys, her purse, her shoes one at a time, and then her socks along the way. She shut the door behind her and the sound of running water promptly assaulted his eardrums as he shut the door and engaged all three locks behind him. He flicked on the lights Kaoru had been too excited to bother with and made his way over to the sofa, feeling like a decrepit old man next to her giddy display of energy. After lowering his body down to rest in the plush piece of furniture, he gradually shrugged out of his coat and pulled off his shoes, groaning a little with satisfaction at how wonderful his feet felt free from their individual prisons. He left his shoes where they'd dropped, not bothering to be neat since Kaoru had left her shoes strewn somewhere on the path between the door and the bathroom. Ken leaned his head back against the back of the sofa and closed his eyes.

Kaoru swore under her breath as she realized that she hadn't done the laundry and therefore didn't have any nightclothes for the second night in a row. In retrospect, Kamatari had probably planned it so Ken had more clothing in the way of sleepwear. While she could wear his boxers, he couldn't very well borrow a pair of her underwear bottoms to sleep in, could he? She shrugged on the same pair of boxers she'd been wearing the night before, since they were conveniently lying in the bathroom where she'd taken them off. And thankfully she'd also left a clean tank-top in the bathroom closet for just such an emergency, which she now wriggled into.

The problem of dressing solved, Kaoru raided the medicine cabinet for the first aid kit and some bandages. She also came up with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, some cotton swabs, and a box of q-tips. Thus loaded down with supplies along with a bucket of warm water and a couple washcloths, she opened the bathroom door with minor difficulties and made her way down the short hallway to the living room. The sight of Ken on the couch fast asleep greeted her. Kaoru smiled. He still managed to look sexy with his head tilted back against the sofa, scratched and scruffy in socks, slacks, and a torn black t-shirt.

Kaoru tip-toed over to the sofa and practically dropped the medical supplies on the low table between the sofa and the television, the bucket on the floor by the table, and the washcloths on its surface. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to carry everything in one trip. After taking the time to recover from the load she'd been carrying for a brief moment, she moved to stand in front of Ken. Kaoru bent and looked inquisitively down into his face, debating whether to wake him up or not. Hesitantly, she reached a hand out and traced a finger over the thin new two inch long scar marring his left cheek. Surprisingly, it didn't look as if the wound had ever bled. It looked as if it had been burned into his skin, but what could hot enough to immediately cauterize the wound split seconds after it had been made? There was nothing Kaoru could think of small enough to do the trick, unless he'd been standing too close to a fire and something had blown up in his face. That didn't make sense because whatever hit him would have had to bounce off to leave such a light mark. But it truly looked like a pine needle had blown in on the wind and cut his face, or someone had had a pen that wrote fire and drawn a line across his cheek. Kaoru mentally scoffed at her ideas, denouncing them as wild. Who heard of pens that wrote fire anyway?

"You smell like soap." His words startled her from the amateur examination she'd been conducting. She hadn't known he was awake. His still body evoked only the impression of sleep.

"I took a shower," Kaoru informed him; although she realized that only fool wouldn't draw that conclusion the second the words left her mouth.

Ken opened his eyes just long enough to flash her a look letting her know he wasn't a complete idiot, before closing them once more. "I know. I heard the water." The hand resting against his cheek was a warm weight anchoring him to the conscious world when all he wanted to do was sleep. Mostly. He wouldn't mind lying there on the brink of sleep while Kaoru ministered to his … needs. Not that he would be sleepy for long if she did that.

"I know you heal overnight," Kaoru started, obviously without a clue as to the direction his thoughts had just taken, "but I want to clean your wounds and bandage you up anyway," she continued, lifting her hand to trace the graze on his face from the first silver needle. "Sit up."

"No," Ken protested. "I'm tired, leave me alone."

"Kenshin!"

"Okay, okay," Ken grumbled, not moving. "I run the streets for hours, put my life in danger, come back with a Hummer, let you drive it, and all I get for my effort is yelled at."

"Is that supposed to make me feel guilty?"

Ken opened his eyes to look intently up into hers and executed his best lecherous wink. "Is it working?" He was rewarded for his efforts with the light sparking in her midnight blue eyes and the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She was trying hard to be stern with him. Ken was fine with that as long as 'trying' was the key word.

"No, lazy," Kaoru laughed. God, he loved it when she laughed.

Ken made a show of straining to lift his head as he slowly opened his eyes to focus on hers and held up his arms. "Pull me up."

As Kaoru rolled her eyes and leaned in to grasp his hands Ken snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her down into his lap. He gave himself mental props for the way she landed, straddling his lap.

"You suck. You know that right?" Kaoru chided, placing her hands on his shoulders to keep her balance.

Ken winced slightly, unable to stop his eyes from narrowing in reaction to the pain. She was touching his shoulder where Akira had slashed it open. The blessed silver the sword was made from had cauterized the wound, but Ken had reopened by being careless with his movements when he'd caught Tomoe as she was falling. He'd felt the precious blood trickling from his shoulder the whole time he'd run through the woods back to his car.

Kaoru noticed his grimace and removed her hands as fast as if she'd inadvertently touched fire. "I'm sorry," she apologized, eyes dismayingly wide with worry. "I thought that was blood on your shirt, but I didn't want to –" She stopped herself.

"It's okay," Ken seethed, annoyed that the injury had evaporated any traces of sexual tension that had been developing.

Kaoru slid from his lap to sit at his side on the sofa. "Take your shirt off so I can wrap the wound," she commanded softly.

Ken didn't bother to reply, but did as she asked, missing the feel of her thighs resting against the tops of his. He was glad to be pulling the shirt over his head so she couldn't see his face. Since Akira had wounded him, he'd been acutely aware of his shoulder as a dull throbbing, but the action of lifting the shirt over his head caused the pain to flare. He didn't want Kaoru seeing that expression on his face. He tossed the shirt on top of his coat and met her eyes, but hers were focused on his shoulder. Following the direction of her eyes, he saw it was bleeding again.

"Did Tomoe do this to you?" she asked, reaching for one of the cloths she'd brought and dipping it in the bucket of water. "Tell me what happened."

Ken related a summarized version of his confrontation with Tomoe to Kaoru while she washed and wrapped his wounds. It was easy to talk while her hands were sweeping over his body in soft strokes until every scratch he'd sustained was clean. At one point she left to get him some aspirin, remarking that even if it had no effect on him, it couldn't hurt to try. By the time he'd finished narrating the last moments of Tomoe's life, she was finishing the wrapping of his neck, where Akira had held the silver katana to his throat.

"Kenshin, how did Tomoe touch the silver needles? They had to have been blessed if they could do this to you," Kaoru added, touching the small Band-Aid she'd placed over the hole where a needle had gone three inches into his skin.

The feeling of Tomoe's fingertips on his cheek flooded back for a moment before Ken focused on Kaoru's question. "Her fingertips were coated in wax. I didn't notice it until she touched me. It didn't feel like skin. But she was dying and I was distracted so it didn't register until now."

Kaoru digested the information silently. "Why was that man, Akira, traveling with her?"

Ken watched Kaoru as she gazed down at her hands, which were ringing out the wet cloths into the bucket of once warm water tinted pink with blood. "She turned him. He had no where else to go. She was his master."

"But you found a place to go!" she protested, looking up from her hands into his eyes. "What kept him with her? Did he love her like you used to?"

"I never loved her," Ken snapped angrily.

"Fine. But did he love her?" she asked again.

Ken forced himself to exhale a calming breath. "Probably."

To his surprise, Kaoru smiled before she looked down at her hands once again. Her hair shaded her face from his view, but he heard the sadness in her voice as she spoke. "Tomoe must have been enchanting. She got you to fall for her, and Akira, and who knows how many men in between? I'm not sorry she's dead. She ruined too many peoples' lives by turning them. But if Akira loved her, then others did as well.

I don't think I would have ever understood her if we'd met. When Myojin told us you had to kill her or I would die, you said it was better her than me because she had no one who loved her. I know you didn't kill her. You didn't just tell me it was Akira to make me feel less of the blame, because you wouldn't lie about something that important to me. But knowing he loved her, I feel responsible for her death. If it hadn't been for me, you would never have gone there and she'd still be alive. I can't expect the dark one to look after Akira, who is innocent in all this, more so than I am. If Akira dies, I'll feel responsible."

"Kaoru it wasn't your fault. The Juppongatana would have killed her if you hadn't been here."

"Yeah, but Akira wouldn't have killed her. Now he has to live with himself. There's no one around to tell him it wasn't his fault, that it was an accident," Kaoru stated, her voice rising. "I don't want to know how it feels to kill the one you love, the one you wanted to protect, and go on living!"

Ken had no words to say that would comfort her. It was still vaguely unsettling that he wanted to comfort her in the first place. He wasn't accustomed to depending on another person to be happy, or even to being happy at all. He'd been at ease in the company of Sano, and then of Ayame for a short while, but happy was not a word to describe how he'd felt. When he was around Kaoru, he was always painfully conscious of her, and that consciousness had a solid effect on him. When he let go of the tight reins of emotional control around her, when he didn't have to worry about danger because they were in secure surroundings, he almost felt… lightheaded, with almost the same pleasant buzz in the back of his mind he got on those infrequent occasions when he'd been drinking.

So even though he couldn't comfort her, didn't know how to comfort her, was fundamentally disturbed at the sadness in her voice, he couldn't help but be happy and thankful that he was with her. And then he knew what to say to her.

"If I hadn't gone to kill Tomoe, I would've killed you."

She looked up at him quickly, confused and cheerless.

"The Juppongatana would have killed you, most likely Saitou himself, because I refused to end the life a woman who wasn't truly alive, who wanted to die. Then I would have been just like Akira. Do you wish that on me?"

She turned her eyes from Ken's. Of course she couldn't wish that on him. It was selfish, but she'd rather Akira suffer than Ken, than her Kenshin. Oh God, what had happened to her? When had Kenshin started to mean this much to her? And why? Why? Why?

"Kaoru?"

Did he have to probe? Did he have to make her say it? But what did it matter? God knew already. Saying it out loud didn't change much.

"No," Kaoru whispered harshly. And then more clearly, "I'd rather live for you and my family and friends. No, that's not true. I'd rather live because I don't want to die most of all." She met his eyes. "What kind of person does that make me?"

"Strong," Ken replied readily, "to be able to face up to that quality in you. It's human nature."

"What do you know about being human?" Kaoru snapped angrily before immediately bursting into tears, dropping the damp cloth she'd been wringing out on the table, and throwing her body against him. "I'm sorry, Kenshin! I'm sorry! Kenshin, can you forgive me?! Kenshin, I'm sorry!"

"Kaoru, there's nothing to forgive. I shouldn't have said anything," Ken found himself saying. True, the comment had stung, but only because it had come from Kaoru. He was too used to the life of a vampire in any case, and in truth he often wondered if he still understood what it was to be human. That was a question he had to wrestle with himself. He didn't want Kaoru to feel any guilt over the issue, so he comforted her. It had been a long time since he'd played the role of consoler for anyone. Why did it seem he was always consoling her because of something he'd done?

"But you're more human then a lot of people I know, Kenshin. I had no right to say that, especially because I know you resent being a vampire a little."

Ken chuckled. "A little? Just forget about it, Kaoru. I got to meet you because of what I am. You're good for me."

"How good can I be for you when I'm causing all this trouble?"

"I was in trouble with most of the vampires long before I met you, Kaoru."

"Why?" she asked, curiosity winning and letting her look up and meet his eyes, though she remained huddled against him, regretful.

"I'll tell you tomorrow after Myojin comes. I'll need two nights to rest before I take on the dark one. Since Tomoe's dead, he's looking for me. We have to stay here for the next two nights. On Friday night we'll check out the city again."

"Okay," Kaoru nodded, suddenly becoming conscious of the way she was pressing against him, and of the fact that this meant she'd be spending two nights in the apartment, just her and Kenshin. What would they do for all that time? Just talk? She had a sneaking suspicion Ken had something else in mind. Blushing at the thought of what that something else might be, she tried to pull away, but he only held her and picked her up bridal style, standing from the sofa.

"Ken, what about-"

"I'll clean up tomorrow," Ken cut her off as he carried her towards the bedroom, not bothering to flick off the living room lights. "It'll be dawn soon, and I haven't kissed you yet tonight. We're going to bed early," he told her, walking into the dark bedroom and kicking the door shut behind him. He must have known the bedroom well, because his step never faltered as he laid her on the bed. Kaoru heard the sound of a zipper.

"Ken?"

Then he was on top of her, his body hot, hips pressed against hers. He missed her lips in the dark, got the side of her nose instead.

"What happened to Kenshin?" he asked, deciding to bypass her lips in favor of sliding his down to her neck.

"Kenshin," Kaoru started before gasping at the feel of his tongue on her skin, one of his hands at the bottom of her tank top, the other lifting her up so he could slide it up and off with practiced ease. One of his hands went down to her hips and under her butt, pulling her hips towards his body, while the other caressed a breast. His lips were insistent on her skin. Kaoru drove her hands into his hair, freeing the tie at the back of his neck that kept it under control. "Kenshin, you still haven't kissed me." But saying that was a mistake because his mouth was on her mouth and his hips were now even with hers, his hands cupping her butt and forcing her pelvis to rock with his as their tongues meshed. She savored the taste of his mouth as his tongue danced with hers, warm, damp, and velvet rough.

"How's that?" he asked when they stopped to breathe.

"Good."

Ken laughed, hearing the satisfaction in her voice. "Kaoru, how much longer can we go without going all the way?"

"I don't know," Kaoru half moaned. For the first time, she admitted to herself that she was frustrated; frustrated that she couldn't be with Ken the way she wanted to. She was absolutely, utterly, completely, totally, downright frustrated to the verge of tears. "I don't know, Kenshin."

******************  
A/N – Ahoy mateys, looks like there's fluff ahead on the starboard port. Wow. Pirate lapse there. Too much Johnny Depp. I promise the plot won't be lacking next chapter either. Expect a heavy amount of Soujiro and co.**

******************Question – What do ya'll think of this grown up Ayame? In case some readers haven't seen the anime, she's a child in the series, but doesn't appear in the manga. She's turned out a little Megumi-ish in my opinion.**


	17. Chocolate

**A/N – Thanks a bunch to the readers and reviewers for giving me the will to go on. Okay. It's not quite THAT dramatic a situation. In any case, I'd like to issue a special thanks the reviewers from the last two chapters.**

**Witchitta****, Poppy2, Iram, BlackDragonGirl, J, De Lazy Lime, Hitokiri-miao miao, Rinfirithiel, ixchen, EEevee, Jade Catseye, Sasha, genocide ex-syncin, crasyducky, BelleDayNight, PsychoSushi, Hiei's.punk.rocker.girl, MZ. AMbER EYES, kenshin's-angel, Jirurianu, bonenessasan, Dea Mariella, unknown beedee, Kyia Star, paisita, Bradybunch4529, JML, animegurl23, Naiyuki, WiNdSpRitE11, Jupiter's Light, stoictimer, Inu N Kenshin LoVr, the sacred night, whitewinter21, Jurie, Neko Oni-chan, Falconess106, shadowcat15, Lyphta, Battousai'sMuse21, XxSilentDreamerxX, Vic'chonn, kenshin's grl, kiriekun, Sapphire Priestess, Kaoru4**

**Thanks minna-san!**

**-**

**Disclaimer – I would never claim to own 'Rurouni Kenshin' or 'The Cosby Show' or 'The Practice'.**

**-**

**Silver Cross**

**-**

**Chapter 17 – Chocolate**

**-**

_  
We're flying in a dirigible?!_

_ Yeah. Isn't it great?_

_ I want an airplane! I'm not getting in that._

_ Stop crossing your arms and pouting.__ Air planes stink. Soon the world will discover that dirigibles are better. Don't you want to say you rode in one back before they got big?_

_ Noooo! _

_ Tough.  
_

_-  
_

"Now you know why I had you deliver the messages to those people yesterday."

Soujiro nodded at his uncle's profile from his frozen position. He'd been in a place like this once before, when he'd gone to a convention with his father, but even that huge conference room in Washington D.C. had not held so many people. Although the men in front of him were all clothed in black suites, as was he, it was plainly evident that they came from all walks of life. The sun-weathered skin of the small Asian man with the cane directly in front of him contrasted against the big rough hands that matched the body of the man in the far corner with the cowboy hat, while two rows away from the first man, sat another with manicured nails. Five seats down from him sat a fiery black woman in a red dress, and six rows behind her sat a demure woman in copper tones conversing with a red head who conveyed a Mediterranean air. The crowd was as diverse as the country, but as a whole, they exhibited a tense quality, a severity in their mannerisms common to each and every person. This was a convention for vampire hunters, and Sou had helped initiate it. Even as the truth dawned in his mind he recognized the grocer he'd met on one of his first visits yesterday talking soberly with the banker he'd spoken with on his last. And sitting in the chair to his left, at the head table in front of all these people, was his uncle, Makoto Shishio.

"They're all hunters."

"Yes," Shishio confirmed, as if he knew Soujiro could not quite believe that there were this many people in the world who knew and believed in vampires. This many people and he had not known until his girlfriend stumbled upon one. His ex-girlfriend, Soujiro corrected himself.

"Why?"

"Why what, Soujiro?" Shishio asked, turning to look at him for the first time all day.

"If all these people know about vampires, why didn't you ask one of them to let you out? Why did you stay in that mental hospital for so long?"

His uncle sighed and shrugged. "I needed time off. It's not an easy life, kid. What vampire is going to come after a hunter who wound up in a mental hospital? Not one I ever met. I was usually the one who did the chasing. There, I was hidden."

"Why didn't Mom tell me the truth? She knew you weren't crazy. She let me believe you'd done something wrong all those years." Soujiro knew he sounded like the confused kid his uncle always addressed him as, but he couldn't help it. So much of his life had been a lie. He wondered if his father knew. What else had his parents lied to him about?

"Your mother and I never got along once we grew up. She probably thought it best that I wasn't around to influence you. It's not like you needed to know."

Soujiro felt betrayed by not only his mother, but his uncle too. Family secrets should be kept within the family, with the whole family privy to them. That was what Soujiro had always believed. Still, he found himself uneasy at the prospect of any of his young cousins finding out that vampires existed, but he doubted Shishio had refrained from telling him from a sense of love. Although Soujiro loved his uncle because he was family, he was under no illusion that Shishio reciprocated his feelings.

"Does my sister know?" he asked, casting his eyes down at his shoes. If she knew, maybe that was why she'd protested so strongly when Soujiro had sought out his uncle's help.

"You thought that's why she hates me?" Shishio asked, his tone amused. "No. She didn't know. Your mother may have told her since you left."

So then he hadn't been the only one left in the dark. "Who does know?"

"Save the questions, kid. I've got to start the meeting now."

"Wait," Sou said, looking up at his uncle and catching his sleeve before the men could stand. "This meeting's not about Kaoru. It's about the dark one, isn't it?"

The brief expression that broke through on Shishio's face held a wild look of suspicion and fear before it flickered back to neutral. "How do you know about that?" he asked in a careful tone.

"I heard you talking with Enishi and Jineh. Who's the dark one?" Soujiro asked, releasing his uncle's sleeve. He needed to know this information before the meeting started so he had some clue of how serious a situation he was in.

"The reason for this meeting," Shishio answered coldly, obviously having lost interest in his nephew as he rose and stepped towards the microphone.

Soujiro didn't know his uncle very well, but he realized he had made a mistake when he asked about the dark one, whoever that may be. He should have waited; now the man was suspicious of him. He could no longer think of Soujiro as the naive nephew whose girlfriend, no ex-girlfriend had gotten in trouble and whom Shishio was doing a favor by bailing her out of that trouble. No doubt Shishio was not pleased with Soujiro for eavesdropping on his conversation, a conversation he had obviously not intended Soujiro to hear. Now, as he addressed the crowd, Shishio was probably wondering what else Soujiro had heard. Soujiro would be lucky if Shishio brought him back to the hotel. After that mistake, he was on his own.

-

_But why can't I get a dog?_

_ It's too much of a hassle._

_ Oh come on, don't be so sour. Just a little dog? Like a Schnauzer or something?_

_ No. _

_ Why?_

_ Why don't you get a cat? They're less trouble._

_ I want a dog._

_ A fish?_

_ No. I want a dog. How about a __Chihuahua__ then?_

_ Sanosuke…_

_ Ken, I want a dog._

_ How about a fish?_

_ I want a dog._

_ Okay, how about a few fish?_

_ Fish don't DO anything._

_ A bug then. Go out and catch a caterpillar._

_ Ken!_

_ Fine fine. Get a dog. But don't say I didn't warn you.  
_

_-  
_

"It'll only take ten minutes. The landlord said it's right downstairs," Kaoru wheedled. "All I have to do is take the elevator to the basement."

"Not tonight," Ken stated flatly, toweling his hair dry. "You are not going to leave this apartment."

"Don't you think you're being just a tad unreasonable?"

"No. I don't."

"Well I do! There's no way the dark one knows that we're here, or even cares that I exist," Kaoru protested. "He's not going to find me if I go downstairs to do the laundry."

"The Juppongatana know where we are," Ken informed her calmly. "That means there's a risk that the information could leak out to the dark one. And Tomoe knew about you, so the dark one does too."

Kaoru sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Myojin will be here in a few minutes. Get dressed."

"Myojin! I'd hoped I would never have to see his face again. Why's he coming?"

"I requested an appointment with him when I talked to Saitou last night."

"Why do you want to talk to him?"

"I need to know how much he knows about me and the dark one, how he knows it, and who he plans on telling. You're going to talk to him too, so get dressed."

"In what? I need to wash clothes. All I have is that green dress, which I am not going to bother wearing if I'm not going out of the apartment."

"Wear the dress, Myojin won't care."

"And you won't care either," Kaoru huffed, securing the towel tighter around her body. She'd come out of the shower first, only to discover that she had no clean clothes other than a bra and a pair of panties, so she'd wrapped the towel around herself once again and waited for Ken to emerge from the shower. "The only reason women wear dresses like that is to show off. I refuse to display that much of my body just because Myojin is coming."

"Kaoru you are going to talk to Myojin tonight. I'd prefer you talked to him in something more than your underwear, especially since he's already married."

"You are the bossiest man I've met in my whole life. You can not tell me what to do!"

"I just did. Now do it."

"No," Kaoru stated simply, hands on her hips as she watched Ken sit the towel down on the bed beside him and stand to face her.

He tried to stare her down.

She refused to be stared down.

He rolled his eyes.

She rolled hers right back and tilted her head toward his in a gesture full of attitude.

He sighed.

She repositioned her hands on her hips, still facing him with a determined glare.

"Have it your way," Ken said finally, crossing his arms. "Meet him in your underwear, because I will bring him in here."

"I am not meeting that man in my underwear. Now get out so I can get dressed," Kaoru ordered.

Ken walked past her and opened the door to the living room. "Come out when you're dressed. I want you to answer the door."

"Fine. Just leave."

He left. Ken wondered why it felt like she'd won the argument. Oh yeah, because she'd been the one to tell him to get out. Not that he minded her telling him what to do. He was the one that got to see her in the dress after all. For the second time, he mentally congratulated Kamatari on his choice of clothing for Kaoru. She must have been feeling too intimidated to protest when he'd picked the outfit out, because he couldn't picture her trying it on in the store and going through with the purchase. Unless she'd thought she would never have to wear it. Scratch that, Kamatari had probably snuck it in. As soon as he got back to New York, he'd have to do something nice for the man. Damn. After over two hundred years, Ken would've thought he'd be used to being around the man, yet he was always uncomfortable in his presence. It was probably because the other gay men Ken had come in acquaintance with didn't try to hug him and call him pet names.

Dismissing Kamatari from his mind, Ken put the living room to rights, removing the medical supplies Kaoru had left out the previous night from the sofa area and replacing them in the bathroom. Then he headed into the kitchen to scrounge up some food. Finding a bag of potato chips, he poured them into a big serving bowl and returned with it to the living room. From what he remembered from ten years ago, Myojin was partial to potato chips. Heading back to the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator and surveyed it for drinks, keeping one ear out for Kaoru the whole time. She'd bought a six pack of root beer as well as a gallon of milk and a carton of orange juice. He heard the soft sound of the bottom of the door pushing against the carpet, and knew that was Kaoru opening the bedroom door. Dismissing the drinks for the moment, he headed for the living room, reaching it just as the sound of the door shutting made it to his ears.

The emerald green dress suited her. From the way it rested against her curves, he guessed it was silk lace. Only one shoulder had a sleeve, the other was bare. Ken guessed that meant she wasn't wearing a bra, or maybe she was wearing a strapless bra. At any rate, the emerald color of the dress clashing with the vibrant blue of her eyes only enhanced the total effect. The dress was cut short, at least six inches above the knee, allowing Ken to take in a lot of leg. The cream colored sandals that she wore added only about an inch to her height and left all attention to the dress. Ken let his eyes trail up her legs to the hem of the dress, the beaded bodice, the one strap, and to her slender neck, accentuated by the gold hoops she wore in her ears. They stood out against her dark hair, which was pulled up to the top of her head, fastened with a gold clip, and allowed to fall in waves behind her. Finally, he focused on her face. She wore lip gloss, but no other make up, and frankly, she didn't need it.

"See what I mean?" Kaoru grumbled, attempting a sour look. "Women don't wear dresses like these to stay at home." It was hard to hold the smile down though, when Ken obviously liked what he saw, when he liked seeing her. Hopefully, the meeting with Myojin wouldn't go as bad as she'd thought, then Ken would realize how silly he was being by not letting her do her laundry, she'd do the laundry, and they wouldn't argue at all for the next two days. Nights, Kaoru reminded herself.

Kaoru twisted around in front of the full-length mirror that hung against the wall to her right, checking herself over. The dress was shorter than she was comfortable with and she needed to workout before she started gaining weight, but at least the dress wasn't prone to wrinkles. She gave herself the okay verdict and smoothed the fabric of the bodice down a little. She shouldn't have worn lip gloss, Kaoru decided, grabbing a tissue from the end table at her left and blotting her lips. There was no way she wanted to give Myojin the impression that she'd dressed up for him.

Kaoru surveyed her reflection in the mirror once again and this time she liked what she saw. Sure the dress was way over the top in the casual department, but it wasn't blatantly showy. She didn't look quite as elegant as the woman she'd met briefly at the beach party, but Kaoru didn't think she'd ever manage that look of sophistication. That woman had reminded her of her childhood idol, Clair Huxtable from 'The Cosby Show'. Now Clair, had class! Kaoru was a closet 'Cosby Show' fanatic. She smiled, remembering how angry she'd made her cousin when she'd told her that she'd wanted to be like Phylicia Rashad, the woman who played Clair, when she grew up. Kaoru had long since given up on being anyone but herself, but she'd come away with a respect for Clair's profession. In fact, Clair was probably the whole reason why Kaoru wanted to be a lawyer, besides her brief infatuation with the show 'The Practice'.

"They should."

Kaoru turned away from the mirror to blink at Ken in confusion. "Who should what?"

"Women should wear dresses like yours just to stay at home."

Kaoru smiled at the compliment. Maybe Ken forcing her to wear the dress wasn't such a bad thing after all, but she still wasn't happy with him for being over-protective about laundry. She wasn't going to get jumped in the basement! And even if she did, she could take care of herself against most humans, two years of tae kwon do in college had seen to that.

Four crisp knocks sounded against the front door.

Ken was closest. He closed his eyes and searched the ki around him, sorting through the mix of his and Kaoru's until he could feel that of the person at the door. It was definitely Myojin's. He was alone, but three other vampire ki signatures were somewhere close, probably circling the block in whatever car Myojin had arrived in.

"It's him," Ken answered her unspoken question.

"You wanted me to get the door?" Kaoru asked.

"No. Get three drinks from the kitchen and meet us in the living room," Ken decided, turning away from her and striding over to answer the door. He glanced through the peephole in the door to be sure it was Myojin. The man smirked into the lens. Ken sighed, undid the locks, and opened the door.

"Himura," Myojin nodded, making no move to enter the apartment until he was asked.

"Myojin," Ken greeted, holding out his hand and shaking with the other vampire. "Come in," he requested, standing to the side and allowing the other man to pass by him.

"Cozy apartment," Myojin commented as Ken locked the door behind him. "What did you want to meet with me about?"

"How you black-mailed me into killing Tomoe Yukishiro."

"I knew you'd get straight to the point. I won't apologize for that, even if my wife seems to think I should. It had to be done." He glanced around the apartment. "Are we going to stand in your doorway all night?"

"No," Ken replied tersely, leading the way to the sofas. "Have a seat," he offered, seating himself in the straight backed chair between the two sofas. Myojin took a seat on the sofa to his left, openly taking in his surroundings. His eyes lighted on the bowl of chips in front of him and he reached forward to munch on a couple.

"You remembered," he observed. "Not my favorite flavor, but you can't go wrong with original."

Kaoru cleared her throat behind them, and Myojin stood to face her. "Miss Kamiya, can I help you with those drinks?"

"No. Just sit back down Mr. Myojin," Kaoru told him, taking in the man's appearance. His thick black hair was spiked and he had more of a tan than she remembered. The leader was dressed in a nondescript pair of jeans and a t-shirt. His dark brown eyes were serious, but his face and eyes lent him a childish appearance that Ken lacked. She could hardly believe that he was the man who had ordered Tomoe killed, or that he would have carried out the threat against her life if Ken had failed to kill Tomoe. Kaoru disliked him on sight.

"Why did you have me kill Tomoe when Saitou was obviously itching to be burdened with that particular duty?" Ken asked once Kaoru had served the two men drinks and seated herself on the sofa to his right.

"I'm not going to answer all your questions, Himura. I have the Juppongatana to protect, but we've agreed that you should know certain things."

Ken nodded. He didn't expect the leader of the Juppongatana to risk endangering his people.

"I need Saitou alive. Killing Tomoe was too risky. Frankly, you were a liability. At any rate, you should be thanking me for giving you the excuse to kill her. It's no secret you resent being a vampire. I was giving you the chance for legal revenge."

"I didn't seek revenge against her."

"You should have. I know you seek the dark one for that, especially after what happened ten years ago, but Tomoe played an even greater role in getting you where you are now. I was giving you the chance to realize that."

"Don't lie to me, Myojin. Why me and not someone else?"

Yahiko sighed and addressed Ken in a more frank manner than he had previously. "She wouldn't meet with anyone from the Juppongatana but me, which was understandable since she wanted me dead. It was decided that the organization couldn't risk losing me. You're a powerful vampire, Himura. You were the logical choice. The old ones won't be troubled by a vampire such as Tomoe. You know that as well as I."

The old ones, Kaoru wondered. Ten years ago? Ken had some explaining to do once Myojin left.

"Did you know Tomoe was working for the dark one?"

Myojin blinked in surprise as he shook his head no. "This means that the Inshinshishi are also working with the dark one. Tomoe was deep into the Inshinshishi organization. Their headquarters are in Phoenix. What else did you find out from her before she died?"

"Nothing," Ken lied. "She warned me to leave before the dark one came to the place where we were located. Apparently he was close, but I couldn't have fought him in the condition I was in."

"Oh."

"So you only wanted her dead because you thought she was a spy for the Inshinshishi?" Ken asked.

"She was. I know that. She must have been the dark one's new woman."

"The dark one's not going to be happy when he finds out you had her killed," Kaoru broke into the conversation.

"What are you talking about?" Myojin asked.

"Well, the dark one will have to assume it was the Juppongatana that killed her, since there were no witnesses," Kaoru lied. "Won't it come after you quicker then?" she asked innocently.

Most likely," Myojin agreed grimly. He seemed to have lost his appetite for potato chips.

"How long has the dark one been after the Juppongatana?" Ken asked, glad that Kaoru hadn't let it leak out that Akira had been the one to kill Tomoe.

"Passively, a couple years. Actively, a month. It's acting in the same manner as when it took out the Sekihoutai and the Tokugawa group. It'll probably strike headquarters in four days, a week tops."

"Tell me where headquarters are. I'm the only one with any chance at destroying it."

"Don't underestimate the Juppongatana." Myojin's tone was cold.

Kaoru winced. It had been a mistake to insult his people, however indirectly. "What Ken should have said, was that he'd like to help you make your stand against the dark one when it attacks," Kaoru amended.

"I'm not giving either of you the address of Juppongatana headquarters."

"Why?" Kaoru asked.

"I don't trust Himura. That information is dangerous in his hands. You because you're not worth my time. Besides, you'd only give it to Himura."

"But it's not fair! You know where we are," Kaoru protested. "At least agree to give Ken the address if you're attacked by the dark one."

"I'll consider it. That's all I can do without the consent of the council members." Myojin stood. "Now unless you have anything else to say to me, I have other things to do tonight."

Ken stood as well. Kaoru snorted and remained seated.

"If you come across a boy named Soujiro Seta among the hunters, don't kill him and I'll owe you a favor."

"Why?"

Ken glanced back at Kaoru before refocusing on Myojin. "He doesn't know what he's getting into. His uncle is Makoto Shishio."

"The self-righteous pig?" Myojin asked with a snort. "Why shouldn't I kill his nephew if the kid's a hunter?"

"He's not a hunter," Kaoru interjected on Soujiro's behalf, standing. "He only came to L.A. to find me and his uncle was the only one he knew who had a chance of locating me. Soujiro's just caught in the middle, and I don't want two deaths on my hands."

Myojin shifted his gaze to her sharply. "Yukishiro's death was none of your concern. If you and Himura had not come to L.A. when you did, I would have killed her eventually."

"Just please don't kill, Soujiro," Kaoru stated, refusing to argue with the influential vampire.

"You have my word that the Juppongatana won't be responsible for his death."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Myojin replied, dismissing her from his notice. "Himura, your location won't be revealed to any in the Juppongatana besides the council members. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"I need a background check on the landlord of this apartment and his immediate relatives."

Myojin nodded. "I'll email you the data."

Kaoru was confused. After the tense moments of friction when both men had been trying to pry information from the other, the near relaxed atmosphere was alarming.

"Have you found out who betrayed Sano?" Ken asked in a low undertone as the two men began to walk towards the door. Kaoru had the distinct impression Ken didn't want her in the conversation anymore. Stubbornly, she trailed in their wake, just close enough so that she could hear what was said.

"As you suspected it was Anji, the ex-monk. He's surfaced in Santa Monica, to the west of here on the coast."

"I know where Santa Monica is."

"You're not thinking of going, are you? You're still weak from the fight, even though it seems you fed since then. Plus, you'd never find him in such a large area."

"No. He'll be in the attack against your headquarters. I'll settle things with him then," Kaoru heard Ken reply grimly.

"I won't text message you the address if the dark one attacks in the next two nights. I refuse to take you down along with the Juppongatana," Myojin declared, his voice rising slightly. "We were friends once. Perhaps we will be again when the dark one is destroyed and your name is cleared."

"Maybe," Ken replied noncommittally, unlocking the door and opening it for the vampire leader. "Give my regards to Tsubame."

Myojin nodded before stepping into the hallway. Turning back to Ken, he winked. "Have fun with Kamiya. You and her, alone for two nights…" he trailed off, smirking suggestively. "Even though she is kind of annoying, I have to congratulate you on getting such a great girl all for yourself."

"It's not as great as you'd think," Ken replied dryly.

"Oh I think it is. I saw the way she looked at you." Myojin turned and started walking away. He held up a hand in farewell, but didn't look back.

-

_Can you eat all that?_

_ This?__ It's only a half gallon._

_ I don't think I've ever been able to eat that much ice cream._

_ You should try it sometime._

_ What's that stuff on top?_

_ Chocolate sauce, caramel, sprinkles, candy, and peanuts._

_ That's not going to make you sick?_

_ What do you take me for? A weakling? Now be quiet so I can eat in peace._

_ I'll just stick with my milkshake.  
_

_-  
_

"I agree that a stand has to be made now," a man from the crowd stood to say, "but I don't agree with the motion to hold the contacts captive. If we do that their vampires will come after us."

"That's true," a second man agreed. "Even if they don't, they'll be forced to make new contacts, which we definitely do not want."

"We should go after only the most influential vampires instead of any one we come across like we've been doing for too long," said the black woman in the red dress Soujiro had noticed earlier.

"We can't afford to do that now with the dark one in LA," Enishi put in from the chair to Shishio's left. "If we do manage to kill the leader of the Juppongatana, for example, they'll be no one left to rule the vampires of the city. We'll simply have helped the dark one and his vampire's win. A new, stronger vampire group will rule not only LA, but the other cities the dark one has already taken over."

Nods circulated throughout the audience.

"What if we go after the dark one's vampires now and kill the Juppongatana members only if they run into us?" another man from the audience suggested.

"Then we'll have two vampire groups actively pursuing us for revenge," the black woman in red put in again. "They could team up against us and overwhelm us for certain.

The debate continued in front of Soujiro's amazed eyes. Since the meeting had started about four hours before sunset, these hunters from around the world had been debating what position to take against the vampires. Apparently, they felt something had to be done, and soon, because of the threat the dark one was posing to vampires and humans alike. Every hour they broke for ten minutes, partly so that everyone stayed fresh, but also to catch up with each other. From what Soujiro had seen, these people were bonded together by the common vampire enemy they had each fought at one time during their lives. A new respect had dawned in Soujiro for his uncle, a man who had achieved such a respected rank among these human hunters. During each of the breaks, at least one person had come up to Sou and told him how much they respected his uncle. They'd even expressed pleasure at meeting a relative of the revered Makoto Shishio. While Soujiro didn't feel at ease, he did feel welcome at this meeting and not at all in any type of danger. A healthy respect for Enishi had also dawned in him. The man was a skilled manipulator of the crowd and could curb a hot debate with a few soothing words. He should have been a politician instead of a hunter. Soujiro certainly would have voted for him.

"Then it's decided," Shishio's voice snapped Soujiro from his reverie. "We will team up with the Juppongatana until the dark one is defeated."

To say that Soujiro was surprised was an understatement. Teaming up with the very vampires who had chased them just a couple nights ago? The dark one and his vampires must have been a serious threat to cause his uncle to team up with a vampire organization.

"What are we going to do about the Battousai?" a voice asked from the audience. Soujiro realized that it was Jineh. "He's sided neither with the Juppongatana nor the dark one and I am sworn to kill him."

"Your family has been after Himura the Battousai for generations," Enishi answered him from the stage. "Everyone knows the Battousai is after the dark one for revenge after what happened ten years ago." There was a murmur of agreement from the audience. "Our alliance with the Juppongatana will likely not last longer than a week. Letting the Battousai live that long can only stack the odds in our favor since the Battousai is the being with the highest chance of defeating the dark one."

"I'm paying you to defeat him, Enishi," Jineh protested. "How can you approve the idea that he lives in front of me and other hunters such as yourself?"

"Subtract the extra days he lives from my pay," Enishi said coldly. "It is best for the human race if he lives. The death of the dark one is more important than money."

"Soujiro, side with me," Jineh called, obviously giving up on persuading Enishi to his side. "The sooner the Battousai is dead, the sooner the Kamiya girl is back among her own kind."

So Jineh was trying to draw him into it. The older man was likely going by the idea that the nephew of Makoto Shishio would have more of an influence on the gathered crowd of hunters than Enishi. The man no doubt knew that Kaoru had chosen the Battousai over him, and sought to play off of Soujiro's jealousy. Soujiro refused to be used. He took a deep breath and looked out at the audience as well as Jineh.

"The idea of a dead Battousai is appealing to me," Soujiro started to a few titters in the audience as quietly and calmly as he could manage. "But that fact stems from a personal conflict which I will resolve in the near future. I don't enjoy wishing anyone dead, whether they be vampire or human. From what information I gleaned from the debates in this hall, the dark one is far more dangerous to our existence on this planet then the Battousai or the Juppongatana. I agree with Enishi's plan to side with the Juppongatana and accept any help the Battousai is willing to provide that will lead to the death of the dark one."

Shishio stood and walked to the podium. "You've all heard the debates and the arguments from each side. Now it is time to decide what course of action we will take as a group. It is vital that each and every person in this room acts in accordance with what we will decide in this room in the next few minutes. It only takes one person to violate an agreement with the vampires, causing them all to turn on us. We are agreed to act as a group?" Shishio asked, scanning the crowd of nodding heads. He focused particularly on Jineh, making sure the man nodded as well.

"Very well," Shishio continued. "It's time to vote."

In a matter of minutes, the crowd as a whole had agreed upon one course of action: joining with the Juppongatana against the dark one.

Shishio smiled at the hundreds of hunters assembled in front of him. "It's decided then. Now we'll spend the rest of the night dividing into groups and developing assignments for tomorrow and the next few days ahead."

-

_This is a pretty good movie, much better then the usual ones you drag me to._

_ Yeah. What's it called again?_

_ Stop dropping popcorn on the ground. You already spilled your coke there._

_ Oh. Sorry. What was it called?_

_ The Manchurian Candidate__._

_ Shut up back there!_

_ Make me! Jeez. That's one grumpy bitch._

_ She's right though, you are talking pretty loud._

_ You're siding with the bitch?_

_ Sanosuke Sagara! What did you just call me?_

_ Ayame! Oh. That was you up there._

_ Damn right it was me. You're going to get it now, Sano.  
_

_-  
_

Despite the fact that she'd meant to grill him as soon as he'd shut the door behind Myojin, despite the fact that she was wearing a dry clean only lace silk dress, and despite the fact that she still desperately needed to do her laundry, Kaoru was in the kitchen with Ken, laughing as she managed to snitch a pinch of cookie dough from the bowl as he placed the tray with the first batch of cookies in the oven and set the timer on the microwave.

"I should punish you for that," Ken commented, coming to stand beside where she was seated at the table and grabbing some dough to shape into balls and place on the second cookie sheet.

"Mmm," Kaoru gloated, savoring the taste of the peanut butter dough.

"Stay away from the cookie dough. You said you don't cook, so your only job is to put the Hershey kisses on when each batch comes out. Don't mess with my cookie dough," Ken warned again.

"Oh come on. A little bit won't hurt," Kaoru coaxed, inching a hand towards the cookie dough once again. "Besides, you won't even let me open the bag of Hershey kisses until the first batch is done, and that's not for," she glanced past him to catch a glimpse of the microwave timer, "seven minutes and thirty-five seconds.

"Thirty-four.

"Thirty-three.

"Thirty-two.

"Thirty-one.

"Just let me open the bag."

"No, Kaoru," Ken refused, dropping the ball of cookie dough he'd just shaped on the second sheet and grasping her wrist in a light hold. "You'd just eat them."

She smiled a little guiltily up at him and shrugged. "So? You should know about women and chocolate by now, especially Hershey's kisses."

Did the damn candy have to be called kisses? Did she have to keep saying the word kisses? He knew just what she'd taste like too, a hint of the peanut butter dough she'd been sneaking behind his back when she thought he wasn't looking, but mostly herself, that special blend of flavors that was Kaoru. God, he sounded like a coffee commercial. Suddenly he was all too conscious of that fact that he still held her wrist, could feel her heartbeat, could feel the blood pumping through the arteries away from her heart and the blood flowing through her veins toward her heart.

"For the record, even though you are a jerk, I'll settle for an ordinary kiss," Kaoru was saying.

An ordinary kiss?

"Sure Hershey has all kinds of kisses like almond and white chocolate and the kind filled with caramel and the hugs-"

"What are you talking about?" Ken broke in, releasing her wrist and resuming his methodical task of rolling the dough into balls.

"Hershey kisses," Kaoru exclaimed, gesticulating with her now free hand. "My favorite is the original kind."

"What do Hershey kisses have to do with me being a jerk?"

"Everything," Kaoru replied, as if that single word was the answer to his question. He watched her from the corner of his eye as she opened the bag of candy anyway and took out a Hershey kiss.

"I told you not to eat them; we need them for the cookies."

"Shut up," Kaoru chastised, absent-mindedly unwrapping the kiss and popping it into her mouth. "Do you expect me to actually do everything you tell me to?" she asked around a mouthful of chocolate, pushing away from the table to stand up.

"Life would be a lot easier if you did."

Kaoru rolled her eyes and reached for Ken, standing on her toes and pulling his head down before meeting his lips in an open-mouthed kiss. It's about time with all this talk of kisses, she thought as his tongue entered her mouth, searching for the melting Hershey kiss. Though she was dimly conscious of his arms encircling her body and one of his cookie dough stained hands on her butt, she was more aware of the dissolving candy and the way the taste of the chocolate intensified the kiss. This man tasted too good. Damn could he kiss!

He reluctantly broke the kiss when the chocolate was gone. "Where'd you get that idea from?"

"A book I read once." Kaoru watched as he leaned close once again. He flicked his tongue to the corner of her mouth, then planted a soft kiss on her lips before withdrawing. "What was that for?"

"You had a little chocolate on the corner of your mouth," Ken informed her. "I think I see some more."

His tongue was back on her skin, tracing a lazy path down her jaw and to her neck. His lips hovered there as he kissed her skin in slow figure eights, trailing his tongue across the surface of her neck. Then he traced back up to her chin and pressed light kisses to her lips.

So this is what chocolate was meant for, Kaoru marveled. Not for hot cocoa or after break-up binges or chocolate covered strawberries. Chocolate was meant to be eaten sloppily, providing a great excuse for your lover to lick it from your lips. She wished she had some chocolate sauce so she could accidentally spill it all over herself. Or maybe she'd just spill it all over Ken's face, so much that it dribbled down his chin to his neck, and down from there to his chest and parts below. Now that would be some good chocolate.

He focused on her bottom lip, licking and nibbling softly until Kaoru let out a slight groan. He could almost taste the blood flowing beneath the skin of her lips. He let Kaoru take over and she hungrily recaptured his lips with hers, slipping her tongue in his mouth. He usually directed her tongue away from his sharp canine teeth, but couldn't bring himself to bother this time, not when half of his mind was on the blood flowing through her body. But she seemed to know to stay away from them and playfully battled against his tongue instead.

Withdrawing her lips from his, Kaoru pulled back a little to look up into his eyes. "Liar," she breathed. "I'm not that sloppy an eater."

"You're right. You're not," Ken agreed.

They smiled at each other.

"Are we going to bake cookies all night?"

"Only until the Hershey kisses are gone."

-

**A/N – Mmmm.**** I could use some chocolate and a guy right about now, hehe. Or maybe just chocolate and Johnny Depp. No! He's married, he's married, he's married… Hope you liked chapter 17.**

**-Aryanne**


	18. History

**A/N – Sorry about the Johnny Depp mix up, and sorry it took so long to update. School starting has that effect on me. Sophomore year at JHU. Go class of 2007. And thanks to all the reviewers:**

**Ookami-Hitomi****, Hiei's.punk.rocker.girl, unknown beedee, ixchen, De Lazy Lime, genocide ex-syncin, Kuroi Tamashii, Jade Catseye, Dea Mariella, Kyia Star, paisita, Bradybunch4529, mz.amber eyes, animegurl23, rainingfruit, Poppy2, Vic'chonn, bonessasan, PrettyHoshi, Jirurianu, Zammie, kik-ting, crasyducky, shadowcat15, Sapphire Priestess, pruningshears, Keiko C. Crawford, Iram, Witchitta, Imana, BelleDayNight, Nguardian, KenshinslilAngel**

**Another**** thanks to all the readers who have me on author alert and such. You are all so patient with me. Even if that patience is against your will…**

**-**

**Disclaimer – I'm bored with disclaimers. I don't own Kenshin.**

**-**

**Silver Cross******

**-**

**Chapter 18 – His-story**

**-**

_ Whose idea was it to ride out here again?  
Mine.  
But there are Indians. I know there are.__  
There aren't any. Besides, you were the one who wanted to see the States.__  
I was thinking more like __New York City__ or __Hollywood__, not middle-of-nowhere __Wyoming.__  
Suck it up… Sano? Where'd you go?__  
I'm down here, Ken. Did I have to be the one to fall off my horse and into an old abandoned mine shaft?__  
Are you okay?__  
Yeah, just get me out. Oh no!__  
What?!__  
Snake!__  
Is it a rattler?__  
No, worse! A little green garden snake! Help me, Ken! You know I hate those!  
-  
_

"I swear you have a laundry phobia. What was with all the evasive maneuvers coming down here?"

"I don't have a laundry phobia. I'm not healed yet, Kaoru. I can't save both of us if someone attacks."

"Okay. I get that, but was climbing up the elevator hatch necessary? Next you'll be climbing up the garbage chute. I thought you could sense other vampires."

"I can, but a human could've escaped my senses through the metal of the elevator ceiling," Ken defended himself, dropping the basket filled with dirty clothes on the ground in front of a dryer towards the back of the laundry room. "And I'm not going to climb up the garbage chute."

"Why'd you pick this dryer?"

Ken blinked. That was a totally off topic question. "It's far from the door, and I have reaction time if someone threatening comes in." Okay. So maybe it wasn't so far off topic, all things considering.

"Paranoid," Kaoru muttered under her breath. "There could be another way to get in though," she hypothesized in a louder tone. She had nothing to do but the laundry for two hours. It couldn't hurt to start up a good-natured argument, get the blood flowing and all.

"I know. Start the laundry while I check out the rest of the basement."

Or it could be a good way to saddle herself with boredom for two hours while Ken went and amused himself scouting out the basement and doing whatever men did when they were alone. But surely he couldn't leave her alone the whole time. If he did, then how would he know she was safe? Great, now she was getting paranoid.

"At least check out the laundry room first," Kaoru protested. "There could be a mad bomber hiding in one of the dryers."

"Kaoru."

"What Kenshin? Did I say something strange?"

"There is no one in here. This room is in the middle of the basement and has no other doors or windows. No one can get in, except through the door we just entered. No one is hiding in any of the dryers."

"I know that, Ken," Kaoru tittered a little nervously. Now she really was getting spooked out. She found herself thinking of how quiet it was, or would be if it weren't for the sound of their voices. "Don't take me so seriously."

"You're telling me not to take you seriously. You can still take that back."

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Maybe I will, or I'll never get any respect again. Go and do your little," Kaoru paused to make quotes in the air with her fingers, "security checks."

"Just start the laundry."

"You mean would you start the laundry, please."

Ken stared at her.

Kaoru tried to stare back, but ended up dissolving into laughter. Ken shook his head and headed for the door. "Wait," she managed through her giggles.

Ken halted with his hand on the door. "What?"

"I think your laundry phobia is kind of cute. You should act ridiculously overprotective more often."

Ken left without saying anything, but Kaoru hadn't really expected an answer. She thought she was starting to figure him out now. Of course, when she'd thought that before, he'd done something to prove he was the polar opposite of what she'd envisioned. Since there was nothing else to do, she decided to actually start sorting the laundry. After all, she'd been the one to beg to come and do it in the first place. If Ken had had his way, she'd be wearing last week's wardrobe, sporting the food stains to match.

In a way, it was sweet that he was acting so overprotective. In another way, it was ridiculously annoying. It was mostly ridiculously annoying, but she couldn't bring herself to hold it against him, when he obviously had only her in mind, even if he wouldn't admit to that fact. A couple weeks and he'd loosen up. A few months and she could potentially figure the guy out. Scratch that delusion. He'd been alive for over two hundred years so far. All those running and laying low habits wouldn't go away in a couple months, no matter how relaxed he tried to be. Assuming they even had that time. Though Kaoru usually looked towards the sunny side of life, she couldn't help but feel an inkling of doubt creep in. Ken was so serious about the threat of the dark one, it scared her. Somehow, it hadn't seemed real to her until he'd come back hurt. Sure, those unknown vampires had shot at them in NYC, but neither of them had even been grazed. Kanryu Takeda had tried to hurt her, but the temple vampire had saved her. It had seemed to her like the good guys couldn't possibly lose.

But things didn't always turn out like they did in Hollywood, not even most of the time. And Ken really had been injured by Tomoe. He moved slower. It wasn't so noticeable now, but he'd been off the night he'd come back, and last night when Myojin had visited. That was part of the reason she disliked the Juppongatana leader. It didn't seem right that he'd seen Ken that way, weaker and injured, and knowing he couldn't put up much of a fight. Even Ken's natural grace was a little off. She'd noticed when he went out the door just now. His sleeve had brushed the doorframe. Kaoru regularly bumped into the doorframe, but Ken's sleeve never brushed against the door frame. She probably only noticed because she'd been around him so much the past few days, but he never let himself come in contact with inanimate objects by even the slightest touch. That was a characteristic that aided in his silence. Kenshin still gave the impression of strength and dominance. His gaze was still as firm, as steady, as confident as it had been since she'd met him. But something was definitely a little off.

The washer lid slammed and Kaoru jumped. She'd been so distracted, she hadn't really realized what she'd been doing and she was already done loading the clothes and adding in the detergent. She fished around in her pockets for enough quarters to start the machine. The noise of the washer starting was familiar and reassuring, until Kaoru realized the degree to which the background dimmed her sense of hearing. Was Ken rubbing off on her a bit too much, or was that background noise extremely unpleasant all of a sudden?

Hearing the door open, Kaoru sank down onto one of the benches, half because it would be easier to duck if someone came in shooting, and half because she was plain tired. She'd never quite shaken her jet lag, and she had to cope with the added pressure of reversing her sleeping schedule as well. Thankfully, it was Ken.

"Find anything suspicious?" she asked, straightening in her seat as she watched him walk towards her.

He frowned. "Everything's fine. I don't sense any vampires in the immediate area. I'll check again in an hour."

"I guess this means we can't just go upstairs and come back in a half hour when the clothes are washed, switch them to the dryer, go back upstairs-"

"No, Kaoru. We already went over this," Ken sighed, sitting down next to her. Would she ever give up pushing her way?

"Well stop trying to be an overprotective parent and start seeing reason. Things would be a lot simpler if we did them my way."

That was a negative. "I don't have any kids, Kaoru."

"I should hope not, because you're not doing a very good job babying me."

Ken decided he might as well argue with her. There really was no one around and he wasn't really interested in listening to the laundry machine. "You do more with kids then just baby them."

"Oh please," she scoffed. "You're the type of guy who would spoil his kid rotten and make the mom the bad person who has to tell the kid no all the time."

Where had she gotten that particular idea from? He would deal with kids just like he dealt with other vampires, fair and just, no favorites. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to have kids anyway. That became impossible the moment he 'died' and became a vampire.

"You're delusional."

"No, just misinformed."

Uh oh. Ken didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like she was blaming him for her misinformation. She scooted closer to him on the bench until they were hip to hip, all the while with an intense look on her face. Ken resisted the urge to scoot away. Damn, but she was intimidating when she wanted to be.

"Who are the old ones?"

Such an innocent smile. No doubt cruel and unusually severe punishments were even now forming in her mind of what she would do if he didn't answer her questions. Ken wondered why he was scared when she couldn't really do anything to him. At least she'd asked a safe question he had no problem answering. It would be better if, as a mortal, she didn't know. But it had become too late for precautions the moment she'd come to New York with him and turned her back to the human hunters.

"The old ones are the first vampires that were made. They live mostly in Africa."

"And they don't care about the dark one because?" Kaoru prompted.

"They don't want to have anything to do with the Americas and could care less who's ruling them."

"And who is ruling them now?"

"Groups like the Juppongatana control the vampires in their respective territories. They meet every few decades to debate any necessary changes."

"What happened ten years ago?"

Before she'd asked that question, Ken had been staring at the washing machine in front of him. Kaoru supposed he'd made up his mind that it wouldn't hurt if she knew this and had ceased caring much about what he was saying. After all, surely even the newest vampire knew the answers to the basic questions she was asking. But this question was different. This one was personal.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because I get the feeling that while you're one of the most respected vampires, you're not one of the most liked, that's why I'm asking."

Ken smirked. "That's a nice way of putting it."

"Well I want to know why."

"It's none of your business." He was guarded now, wary, alert, as if she was the enemy or something. He was beginning to radiate hostility, which was intimidating, so Kaoru stood to gain the height advantage.

"I've been hanging around you for the past week plus. All the other vampires group us together. I group us together. Why shouldn't I know something that directly affects my person?" she argued.

"It doesn't affect you," Ken replied evenly. "The other vampires won't hurt you, only the dark one's people."

"Who will be after you soon enough, and the easiest way to go after you is through me because I don't stand much of a chance against even one of them. I know this has to do with the dark one. You must have done something that most vampires think was wrong, but Myojin obviously isn't one of them. So this means that it's not common knowledge that you redeemed yourself or whatever. What happened?"

He was surprised that she was actually thinking along the right lines, but in retrospect, she'd been given enough hints to come up with something close to the truth.

"You said you used to work for the dark one before you knew what it was. Is that why everyone hates you, because they don't know that you didn't know?" Kaoru asked. She was becoming a little unnerved that he was practically glaring at her and had been since she'd started guessing what happened.

"That's why."

Wow. He'd actually confirmed her guess. Too bad he still wasn't giving her any information. She had no clue what had gone on to make him so alienated from the rest of his people. "So when did you find out?"

He didn't want to tell her. He was still half-ashamed that he'd been manipulated so easily by the dark one for four years.

Kaoru continued. "Before or after Sano died?"

Ken winced inwardly. She knew the right questions to ask alright: the ones that stung the most. He didn't know why he was so reluctant to tell her. He didn't have a hard time trusting Kaoru with big things. Letting her have access to his defenseless body during the day was a hell of a big thing. She probably didn't realize how hard that had been for him at first, how panicked he'd been when he'd woken up and sensed another person near him. This was a big thing. It was no surprise that he was angry and still sensitive about the issue, even after ten years. Trusting her with his life was much more drastic an action then telling her what she wanted to know. Why was he so angry that she wanted to know, when it was obviously only because she cared for him? Why didn't he want her to know?

Because he was afraid she would blame him. The important people, the ones that really mattered, hadn't blamed him. None of the leaders at that conference had blamed him for being dumb, for making that mistake, for causing those deaths. He'd redeemed himself instantly afterwards, saving more lives than had been lost. But he still blamed himself, and he was afraid Kaoru would blame him too. And then he'd lose her, not that he wasn't going to lose her anyway, eventually, but he was afraid of loosing her now because he didn't want to face the dark one without her support. Hell, he didn't want to face the next few hours without her support. And to think that telling her could make him lose her? But one look at her told him that not telling her would mean he'd lose her for sure. She'd think he couldn't trust her and would stop trusting him in turn.

"After." Ken trained his eyes on the washing machine again, at anything but her face. He heard her sit down next to him again, heard her curl up with her feet on the bench, felt her lean her back against his shoulder.

"Tell me what happened?"

Not allowing his brain to think, he launched into the story.

"Sano and I slit up in 1980 because Sano wanted to join an organization called the Sekihoutai. Ayame had started her restaurant four years before that, so it was just me again, for the first time in a hundred years. At first it was refreshing, being alone, but then I got bored. I was starting to feel what Sano had felt without a purpose. In 1988 I met a rising vampire named Katsura and swore him my allegiance. He had charisma and a goal I felt was worth trying to achieve."

Kaoru felt him shrug. She closed her eyes.

"There are deeper reasons for why I joined with him, some even I don't know," he paused. "I became well-known in the vampire world since Katsura brought me with him as we traveled the Americas and Europe a few times. By 1992 things weren't as straight-forward as they'd been when I'd first joined him in '88. He'd become hazy about some of his dealings and no longer entrusted me with each detail of his travels. That's why the other vampire groups trusted me. I think he distanced himself from me on purpose, so they would trust me. I had no territory and no real loyalty to anyone but Sano by that point.

"In November of '92, I was given the honor of organizing a conference of all the leaders in Las Vegas. A few hours before it was to take place, I heard from Katsura that Sano was dead. He'd found the dark one, but lost his life, as his team before him had in '89. I was in shock as I tried to make myself believe my best friend was dead. I didn't feel I could be the unbiased chair of the meeting. I was too broken up, so I told Katsura all the details of the conference that only I had known previously so he could run it. He didn't know I'd planned on attending the meeting in the background. It turned out that if I'd told him a lot more people would have died. A couple hours after the meeting had started I received word from a spy in the hunter community that the hunters knew the location of the conference through a vampire contact and were on their way to kill us all.

"That's why most vampires hate me now. They think I betrayed them. In a way I did. I should never have turned the conference over to a man who had so much to gain through the deaths of influential people. I should have postponed the meeting or just gone ahead with it, but my pride prevented me from doing so. As a result not all the vampires were able to leave in time, but I did manage to save lives. That's why vampires such as Saitou hate me. They've sworn allegiance to a leader and were barely able to preserve that leader's life under the attack of the hunters. Many died trying.

"It wasn't until a year later that Myojin told me it had been discovered that Katsura was the dark one. I knew he was a traitor, since only he could have informed the hunters of the conference location hours ahead of time, but I didn't know he was Sano's killer. He must have planned that all along. So I swore I'd kill him for revenge. The vow only deepened after I realized what a threat he was to vampires as a people."

Ken ended his narrative abruptly. Now she knew.

"If the dark one was just using you, why hasn't he let you find him and killed you?"

Ken exhaled. "I don't know."

"Why do you call the dark one it?"

"I thought Katsura was a vampire, but he wasn't. No one knows what he is. He can walk in the day without pain, unlike any other vampire. Only the old ones can stand the sun, but not for long periods of time. Katsura switches vampire bodies. At the time I knew the dark one, it was in the body of a vampire named Katsura, but it's also surfaced as a woman. I have no clue whose body it's using now, and neither does anyone else."

"Why did Myojin tell you Katsura was the dark one?" Kaoru asked.

Ken had a feeling she was waiting to pass judgment. He only hoped he passed. "Saitou, Myojin, and his wife were trapped by hunters when everyone was trying to leave the convention center. Saitou would have died defending them and Myojin would have died defending Tsubame if I hadn't stepped in. Myojin told me to pay me back for saving his life."

"And why wouldn't you tell me this before?" Kaoru asked.

"You didn't need to know."

"You didn't think I needed to know," Kaoru repeated in an incredulous tone, leaning away from him to sit up. "I'm living with you, supporting you because of something that happed when I was nine years old, tolerating the crappy attitudes you get from other people and dish out to me, and you didn't think I needed to know?"

"The less you knew, the more protected you were. I should never have brought you to L.A. New York was fine, because it's the Oniwaban, whose leaders I have always supported, and the ninjas weren't even there, but there's too much conflict here."

Kaoru practically slammed her feet down on the ground. "And me being poor, defenseless little Kaoru who can't take care of herself, it's too dangerous or something? Even if I do get hurt it's not the end of the world. Don't regret that you brought me here. I don't."

Ken took his gaze from the washing machine and made his eyes hold hers. "I'll regret it if you get hurt."

Kaoru practically melted. It wasn't every day that Ken said something that revealed his feelings so clearly. So he didn't come out and say it, but it was true enough. Still, there was something else she had to know. "Why didn't you join the Sekihoutai with Sano? I know you said you'd had enough of secret groups before you became a vampire, but why didn't you just join the Sekihoutai instead of Katsura?"

Ken sighed. "I resented them a little for taking Sano away. It was petty jealousy that got him killed."

"Hey, the dark one would have just used someone else. You did save lives, Kenshin. I know you must blame yourself, but I could never blame you for being manipulated."

She reached for his hand and held it in hers.

_-  
Hey, can I have $20 dollars? I'll pay you back after I go to the bank tomorrow.  
…__  
I'm not a leach. I swear I'll pay you back.__  
Well. Okay. Here.__  
Thanks. I'll even remind myself on this note to pay you back.__  
Fair enough.__  
Hey, can I have some tape to put up the note?__  
I don't have any.__  
Oh.__  
What kind of tape?__  
Any kind.__  
Oh. I still don't have any.__  
Then why'd you ask me what kind?__  
Just curious.  
-  
_

"I swear I'm not a hunter!"

"Then what were you doing with a group of hunter's kid? Tell me quickly before I kill you."

"I was sent by Makoto Shishio-"

"Shishio!" The vampire tightened his hold around Soujiro's neck.

"I'm his nephew," Soujiro managed to squeak out. "He wants to talk to your leader and entrusts you with my life as a testimony to his honesty."

To Soujiro's horror, the vampire brought his bared fangs closer to his neck. To Soujiro's relief, he simply smelled his scent and didn't bite.

"You do smell like him."

The vampire seemed to have believed Soujiro's statement, because he loosened his hold around the human's neck so he could breath freely again and began murmuring into a microphone on his collar.

"Where's your uncle now, kid?"

"He's waiting for the Juppongatana to contact him at the Hilton Hotel downtown. He's in room 604."

The vampire ignored Soujiro and went back to whispering into the microphone. That was fine with Soujiro, he was too busy taking the man in. He didn't seem much different from regular humans. His skin was a little pale for a California-ite, but he could have passed for normal if he was on the east coast and could easily pass for a tourist in L.A. If it wasn't for the blatant confidence he exuded in the dangerous L.A. night, and the iron-fast grip he had around Soujiro's neck, Soujiro himself would have mistook him for human.

Then another vampire emerged out of the night in front of them.

"He's not going anywhere. You can let go of his neck," the new vampire commanded in a lazy tone. "If we're going to work together for a day or two, I don't think Shishio wants his nephew damaged."

The other vampire nodded, releasing a wide-eyed Soujiro, who took a step back, rubbing his hand hesitantly across his neck. "He won't go anywhere, anyway."

"I know. Go check the perimeter. Our resources are spread thin tonight."

The first vampire nodded and strode off down a park path.

"Have a seat, kid," the new vampire commanded, nodding towards the closest bench where it sat under the only streetlight in this area of the park.

Soujiro did as he asked, surprised when the vampire took a seat next to him.

"What's your name?"

"Soujiro Seta." The vampire blinked, making Soujiro feel he had to explain the relationship with his elder. "Shishio is my uncle on my mother's side. That's why we don't have the same last name. Sir, I have to speak with the leader of the Juppongatana."

"The Juppongatana are one, what difference does it make if you talk to the leader or not? Tell me your message."

Soujiro mentally shrugged. Telling this vampire was probably the only way he could relay his message anyway. It was ambitious of his uncle to assume Soujiro could get an audience with the influential leader. "The hunters have united under my uncle and have decided to team up with the Juppongatana against the dark one. They recognize it as a threat greater than that of a vampire. My uncle put my life in your hands as a statement of his trust."

"I doubt your uncle cares much about you, Soujiro. If he did, he would have come himself instead of mixing you up in business which could get you killed. I give you this advice as if you're not a hunter, but don't assume I believe that part of your story."

Soujiro forced his eyes to stay locked with the brown ones of the vampire seated next to him. His eyes were the same as any normal human's. Somehow he'd thought they would be red. What was the difference between human and vampire? Soujiro wasn't sure why he felt there had to be a difference. He'd been too angry and it had been too dark to notice Kaoru's vampire. But even so, Soujiro had come away from the encounter convinced there had been subtle differences between the species that Kaoru was overlooking because she was Kaoru, albeit slightly brainwashed.

"I know he doesn't trust me, but I he'd never give the order to kill me. It's true that compared to all the hunters he's leading I am the most useless in a confrontation. This way I can be of some service to Shishio. As long as I am useful, he will keep me alive."

"Do you really believe that, kid?"

"You don't look much older than a kid yourself," Sou commented in his defense. As soon as the words were out, he regretted them. He wasn't here to argue, which was usually against his nature, but he felt cornered, alone, and vulnerable. Lashing out was instinctual.

A hint of amusement tugged at the corners of the brown-eyed vampire's mouth. "I was young when I was turned. I still can't say I trust you, Seta."

And then it happened. Soujiro's throat gave a particularly painful throb. His stomach gave a vicious twist of nausea. He couldn't breathe. He ducked his head between his knees as his coach had advised him once before when he'd been about to puke after track practice once.

Footsteps rushed towards him, bursting from the bushes, but he couldn't look up to see who it was because if he did, he would puke all over his shoes. A male voice cried out in rage, the voice of the man charging towards him. The vampire next to him was standing in front of Sou. He could see the man's feet in a low stance. Another rustling emerged from the bushes. A body dropped. The nausea passed.

He wasn't dead.

Sou sat up hurriedly with a wince. The vampire was staring not at the body at his feet, but at someone in the bushes to the right. Sou stood and brushed past the vampire.

It was Jineh lying dead on the ground. Jineh who held a knife in his hand, caught in his death grip. But the sight of the knife in his hand was eclipsed by the sight of the knife in his chest, in his heart. His eyes were open.

The nausea rose again and Soujiro turned around and puked all over the bench.  
-

_ How do they do it?  
What?__  
How'd they get it here?__  
I guess they shipped it from __Hokkaido__ or something.__  
No. It wouldn't last that long. Maybe they enchanted a train car and filled it with the stuff and then the enchanted car flew it here.__  
I assure you, that didn't happen.__  
Then how did they do it? It wouldn't last all the way here from __Hokkaido__  
It's called electricity to make an artificially cold environment.__  
What? That's a myth. And if they did do it that way, it's witchcraft!__  
Let me eat your bewitched ice cream then.  
-  
_

"Enishi," the brown-eyed vampire called firmly to the man in the shadows.

"Enishi!" Soujiro echoed. "You killed him." His voice sounded lost even to his own ears. "Why? I thought you were working for him."

Enishi emerged from the shadows where he'd thrown the knife that had killed his employer. "Jineh Kuragosa went against Shishio's wishes. We want to work with your people, Myojin. Shishio sent me to watch after his nephew. Pardon my leader for not trusting you." He stopped underneath the street light.

"I wouldn't trust me either. Are the hunters so divided that you're reduced to killing each other to maintain order?" the vampire asked scornfully.

Surprisingly, Enishi grinned. "Jineh went a little crazy. I blame the Battousai for driving him to it. He's been on the hit list for a while. I assure you; any other hunters who did not agree with the plan were not invited to the meeting or taken care of in a similar appropriate manner. I merely let Jineh live this long to prove our sincerity."

Was the hunter-vampire world really this cruel? Sou wished he could see the vampire's eyes. Did the man have any remorse for the fallen human at his feet? If humans were like this, what ethics code did vampires abide by?

"I'll discuss the terms of agreement on neutral ground," the vampire stated after a pause.

"Agreed," Enishi nodded. "Keep in mind I know you could have taken care of Jineh yourself, thickly armed as you are, though you probably wouldn't have escaped without scars from the holy blade he's holding." He gestured to the weapon still clasped in Jineh's limp hand.

The vampire was armed? He looked normal to Soujiro.

"I'm glad you're not underestimating me. You're living up to your reputation. How does tomorrow evening sound?" the vampire asked.

"Will you have time with the dark one's attack so imminent?"

"My people will be in touch with you. I trust you're staying at the hotel with Shishio?"

Enishi nodded. "Yes. I'll be leaving now." He looked past the vampire and met Sou's gaze for the first time since he'd emerged from the shadows. "Your uncle congratulates you on performing your task and asks that you stay with the vampires until you're reunited tomorrow."

Sou swallowed nervously. Stay with the vampires? He almost laughed. It wasn't like he had a choice. "Sure." His voice came out sounding weak.

"A diplomatic move," the vampire commented. "He'll be taken care of. You handle disposal of the body. I'll be in touch tomorrow night. Follow me, Seta."

Soujiro caught the barest of glimpses of the vampire's eyes as he walked past Sou. What he saw there, disgust, exhaustion, determination, erased the last vestiges of hate he'd just discovered he'd been harboring. That was why Kaoru was with the Battousai, because she'd seen he was human. Why she was with him and not with Sou remained yet to be discovered, but that was a matter for another day, when there was relative peace and actual time to talk.

He glanced to Enishi. The man who had just committed murder was staring at him with eyes hidden behind his ever-present shades. He nodded to Sou and made a shooing motion with his hands. As if everything was normal. As if everything was peachy-keen. As if there wasn't a corpse lying at Soujiro's feet. As if there wasn't vomit dripping down his chin.

Enishi walked forward, his eyes on the body.

Sou didn't want to know what he was going to do. He whirled around – too fast, almost puking again – and stumbled after the vampire.

"Catch."

Apparently his reflexes still worked, because he caught a towel. Wrapped in the towel were a couple baby wipes.

"We'd rather have you smell like a baby's ass then puke. Keep on walking."

And surprisingly enough, the first vampire, the same one who'd had his hand around Sou's neck five minutes ago, now had his hand on Sou's arm and was guiding him towards a black car. The brown-eyed vampire he'd talked with was already opening the door to the driver's seat.

"What'd you say your name was?"

Sou blinked as he wiped his face unsteadily with a baby wipe. "Soujiro Seta."

"Unuma Usui. Don't worry kid, you're well protected. When we get to base, I'll introduce you to the person who'll be watching over you. Sorry about the neck thing."

Sou blinked again as he noticed that the hand holding the baby wipe was trailing unconsciously up to his neck. He forced it back down to rest at his side. "I suppose you thought it was necessary." Who cared that that wasn't an 'I forgive you'. If anyone thought he was actually going to forgive and forget almost being strangled, not even ten minutes after it happened, they were seriously deluded and had some issues to work out.

"Seta, get in the car."

He didn't know how long he'd been standing at the curb alongside the black car, but the brown-eyed vampire, the one who'd known Enishi, was the one who had spoken and he was looking impatient. Since it was probably a bad idea to make anyone impatient, Sou yanked the back door open and slid down onto the plush leather seats. The vampire called Uzi, or something like that, shut the door behind him and slid into the front seat on the passenger-side.

They were moving.

Soujiro found that he didn't much like the hypothetical idea of one unarmed human sitting in the backseat of a car with two vampires in the early hours of the morning, speeding towards a 'base' of vampires who all seemed to hate a blood relation of said human, and whose first reaction upon meeting this human was to strangle him or her.

Soujiro found he didn't like the idea of being cast in the role of said human even more.

-

**A/N – That said, please vote for this story at the Rurouni Kenshin Reader's Choice Awards, if you so choose. 'Silver Cross' was nominated in the alternate universe category.**

**-  
Get the link from my author's page, or here it is. But for some reason the slash slash after the http: isn't coming out...  
**

**http :tfme.**** net /rkrc /index .php**

**-**

**I hope you were a fan of chapter 18. More K/K on the way.**

**-**


	19. Intermission

**A/N – Happy Halloween.**** Waaah. Why is it so late? 5 in the morning. I need sleep. But I said I would put the new chapter out by Sunday, which required me staying up this late to write it. So I hope you enjoy.**

**-**

**Disclaimer – I'm still bored with disclaimers. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**-**

**Silver Cross******

**-**

**Chapter 19 – Intermission**

**-**

_What color do you think is more manly: lavender or magenta?  
Don't tell me you're actually going to wear one of those colors and that's why you're asking me.__  
Okay. I won't. So which shirt?__  
Lavender.__ I'll just pretend this never happened and go about my existence in oblivion.__  
I think I'm partial to the magenta.__  
Wear the lavender!__  
Okay, okay. Lavender it is.__  
Do I want to know why you're doing this to yourself?__  
Doing what to myself?__  
Disgracing yourself as a man.__  
Oh that. No. You don't.  
-  
_

For once it wasn't gradual. Awareness of his body surfaced from the dreams; he opened his eyes.

He almost felt shock at the difference. His usual awakenings were punctuated by a feeling of paranoia. The fact that freedom of movement was denied to his body only heightened the unsettling experience of waking. But this time was different. He felt warmth, not bitter cold. Then he did feel shock when he realized the warm blanket draped snugly over him wasn't a blanket. Kaoru wouldn't have liked it very much if she woke up at that moment. Well, she would have liked it, Ken thought for the benefit of his ego, but she would have been embarrassed. Half of him wanted to stay cocooned in the bed with one arm thrown carelessly around Kaoru, who currently lay curled against his side. The night before she'd braided his hair before they'd gone to sleep. Now she lay with the end of his long braid fisted in her right hand. Due to some quirk of nature, Ken had learned how to braid at some point in his past, and when she'd discovered this, she'd begged until he agreed to braid hers as well. Apparently, he hadn't done a very good job because her hair wisped out of the braid now, barely under control. It was cute, he found himself thinking. She was cute. Kaoru was also cute when she was angry, which was going to happen pretty soon if she happened to wake up. He wasn't sure how her left hand had gotten up his t-shirt while they were asleep, or how one of her legs had gotten stuck in between both of his. Her other leg rested on top of the leg sandwich. He didn't think he slept in an especially active style, which meant Kaoru definitely must. Ken dared to hope she also slept especially hard.

Step one: disentangling. He slid his captured legs from around hers. Years of experience aided him with the gracefulness and presence of mind to do it smoothly. Ken had the feeling she was going to resent him for that. Thankfully, not much reaction stemmed from her. She merely continued sleeping, her heart beat slow, breathing steady, face free of worry. Ken breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps the time for the second step had arrived then? Easier said than done, of course. All the difficult things in life seemed to have that quality.

Still, he had to at least try, or he'd be slapped silly when she woke up and found him staring at her. Did women expect men not to enjoy stuff like that or something? They always had to be quick to go and get offended, lash out, and then apologize later. Luckily, Kaoru couldn't actually hurt him, but with his luck, she'd get a lucky shot.

Kaoru's brow creased as soon as he pulled her hand from under his shirt, which meant sound sleep must be beginning evasion tactics. However, by that time, Ken had pronounced things 'all good'. He'd already managed to withdraw his arm from around her and replace it with covers. The only way in which they were still connected remained his braid, grasped tightly in her right hand.

"Ken…shin?" she asked in a small voice crowded with sleep. "Is it morning already?"

She didn't look capable of opening her eyes, sleep had slammed the window of her lids shut and locked it.

"Yes," he answered in as calm a voice as possible. If she noticed anything out of place in his tone he'd answer for it when she finally became more alert, which he had trouble imagining as possible in her groggy state. "I'm going to take a shower. Go back to sleep."

"Okay."

Her face instantly relaxed. Ken had a feeling she'd do anything he told her to, unless it involved getting out of bed. At least her grip had loosened. Ken maneuvered so that he could slide the braid from between her fingers. He pulled.

"What are you doing?"

Normally her tone would have held a lightly veiled threat behind that accusation. Lucky for him, Kaoru truly was more asleep than awake. "Let go of my hair. I need to get out of bed."

Confusion played across her features. "Your hair?"

"You're holding it in your hand."

Apparently, it took a long time for sensation to travel from her fingertips to register in her brain. He supposed he couldn't complain as long as it happened eventually.

"Oh, sorry."

She'd let go. Before she could draw any connections that didn't need drawing in order for him to actually make it to the shower, Ken literally hopped out of bed, grabbed some clothing from the closet and a towel, and abandoned the bedroom in favor of the safe haven the bathroom promised. At least there he could lock the door.

_-  
Wow. Now that's what I call a ballet!  
I did enjoy the music, but you only liked it because of the fight.__  
Hey, I'm all for songs that cause riots.__  
'The Rite of Spring' is a little more than that I hope.__  
Eh, whatever. That woman looked impressed when I saved her from that guy who almost hit her with a chair.__  
She was grateful. You're not going to score with her.__  
But since she's right over there, I my as well try.__ Thanks for introducing me to the Russian ballet, Ken.__  
We're in __Paris__ you idiot. It's the Ballets Russes.__  
Yeah, whatever.__ See you later.__  
Why do I bother?  
-  
_

Kaoru yawned and opened her eyes. The air conditioner splayed cold air across her face, which didn't entice her to roll out of bed. Was there a reason she should be getting out of bed anyway? Some idea had pricked a nerve in the back of her mind, so there would be no slipping back into sleep. Vague connotations, rather, possible connotations threatened to surface in the back of her mind. Kaoru didn't like being threatened. This meant she had to remember whatever it was she hadn't picked up on before she could head back to sleep. Or maybe she'd just say screw you, connotations, and your threatening, and head back to sleep anyway. But that optioned deleted itself now that she finally remembered why she was sleeping in a bed and not on the couch.

Why?

Because for once she hadn't had an argument with a certain man before falling asleep. She hadn't had any reservations either. So when the time had come for them to sleep, she'd taken a shower and wound up in the bedroom with him, braiding his hair. He had a nice head of hair by her standards, which was surprising, since she didn't usually go for guys with long hair. But when it came to him, everything sort of surprised her. Surprisingly enough, she was okay with that. So one thing had led to another, he'd revealed that he knew how to braid, so of course she'd challenged him to actually do it. He'd done it, not very well, but well enough for a grown man. She'd gotten cold and slid under the covers instead of gathering blankets and walking all the way to the couch. She must have fallen asleep, and it wasn't like he could sleep in the living room, because of the huge windows and not near enough curtain. So that meant that they'd slept together.

Okay, so they hadn't actually slept together. But they'd slept in the same bed. It wasn't like she hadn't done that with Sou a rare time or two. Did it make sense that it meant more with Ken? And she hadn't even been awake for it!

Kaoru sat straight up in bed. Wait a minute. She knew herself to sleep restlessly. She never woke up in the middle of the night, but her covers were always scattered about her when she woke the next morning. These covers were deceptively smooth. Kaoru found it hard to believe that Ken's presence had miraculously calmed her subconsciousness so that she slept absolutely still. Her face burned as she wondered what position she'd been in when Ken had woken up. Had she been lying all over him? Was that why he'd been in such a hurry to leave and take his shower? What had he had to do to extract his body from the bed? If he'd taken advantage of her in her sleep… Kaoru made plans to beat him within an inch of his life.

Throwing the covers away from her, she launched off the bed and marched over to the walk-in closet to find a sweater. A t-shirt and pajama pants wasn't going to cut it.

"Kaoru, come to the kitchen, I made breakfast," she heard Ken yell.

So he had the nerve to act so deceptively innocent? Men. He'd probably try to play it off like nothing happened at all.

"Alright. Thanks," she yelled back, trying her best to sound sweet so he wouldn't suspect she was angry and have time to think up an excuse. She headed to the bathroom.

Hopefully, Kaoru would get the joke when she came into the kitchen and discovered that the breakfast he'd made existed as nothing more than cereal and toast. But hey, he had pressing issues on his mind, like deciding what action to take now that he was officially healed and ready to go again. He needed to think up a way to keep her safe in a situation that held no aura of safety. She didn't wear her cross earrings around him anymore, but she still wore them whenever they left the apartment. He had no problems with that. He didn't want Kaoru to think of her safety as absolute when there were so many ways for him to fail to protect her.

Kaoru walked in the kitchen then, and Ken started thinking about ways to protect himself. Her eyes landed on the 'breakfast'. She obviously didn't get the joke. His only choice: to play it off like he didn't notice. What else could he do since he didn't have the slightest clue as to what had angered her? Had he left the toilet seat up or something? Surely that wouldn't have pissed her off? But what if she'd somehow found out how they'd been sleeping, gotten angry, and then gone to the bathroom and discovered he'd left the toilet seat up, which would have only increased her anger, and then she came in and saw that breakfast didn't really exist, or at least that he hadn't made it for her, and gotten even more angry?

Kaoru must be rubbing off on me, Ken thought. I don't usually read so much into a glare.

"Hi. Are you ready to eat?" Ken asked from his seat at the table.

"This is what you call making breakfast?" she asked, taking a seat opposite him.

Heartened that she didn't sound particularly angry, Ken deemed it safe to respond normally. "I only said that to get you out of bed. I'm well, so there are things we need to get done tonight."

"Oh? Like what?" she asked, in the middle of choosing which cereal she wanted.

"First, I need to feed, then research. I need to know exactly when the Juppongatana expects an attack. Then I figure I'll question one of the dark one's vampires and get it confirmed."

"Is there anything you wanted to tell me before we go out and do this? I'm giving you a chance."

She abandoned the premise of choosing a cereal. She had no intention of eating until she'd wrung the truth from him.

"I did a crappy job braiding your hair."

Kaoru blinked. She had left her hair in the braid he'd woven it into last night, and she'd forgotten to take it out and brush her hair while she was in the bathroom because she'd been too angry. She hadn't expected him to notice or care though. He rarely made passing comments on her appearance. And just like that, all her anger evaporated. It felt bewildering, the change from determined anger to content satisfaction. She couldn't help but smile.

All these years, and he still hadn't decoded the mind of a woman. Someone should write a book on it. Ken swore he'd buy the damn thing. Kaoru's smile must have made him senile, because Ken found himself willingly standing up and walking into the female danger zone.

Kaoru closed her eyes as Ken drew a hand over her head and undid her braid, not an easy task considering the state of entanglement it had achieved.

"Just as long as you do a better job tonight," she heard her voice mock-threatening.

"Does this mean I get to hang out with you for another night?"

Kaoru felt her smile widen. "Hmm. It's Friday night. I don't hang around with just anyone on a Friday night," she trailed off. As if she had anything else to do.

"What can I do to earn the privilege?"

Kaoru was pleased that he'd decided to play along. "I don't think there's anything I really need," she stated thoughtfully, opening her eyes to meet Ken's gaze as he withdrew his hand from her hair and let it hang by his side. "Although I would appreciate a warm breakfast, emphasis on warm, instead of cold cereal and toast."

"There's no time to cook. We have things to do."

"Well, you should have thought of that earlier. Make me food, Kenshin."

She'd never issued him a direct command before. It seemed as if Kaoru had gotten bolder. Ken couldn't really place an opportunity for this to have occurred, but occur it must have, in testimony of the event had just been narrated to his ears. Not that he had any intention of making her breakfast. He hadn't from the start. When he'd said they needed to get going, he'd uttered a truthful statement. Until now he'd managed to cast aside the antsy feeling that resulted from doing nothing but recuperating while the Juppongatana and the dark one were out and about. He'd known that disadvantage would occur the moment he'd been ordered to kill Tomoe. It still didn't make him very happy about the whole arrangement, but as long as Kaoru was sitting in front of him, engaging him in some ridiculous game he should have been too mature to enjoy, but wasn't, life's decisions must have been worth it.

"You're like a baby bird in a nest: make me food, make me food," Ken mocked. "Haven't you ever heard of please?"

"You're the one who's supposed to be honored to have the privilege to make me food in the first place."

"Don't the marriage vows say something in there about honoring and obeying your husband, Mrs. Sato?"

"I'm all too sure I had that part taken out, dear," Kaoru shot back with the most insincere smile she could muster.

"You may have forgotten."

"No. I can guarantee that I've never vowed to honor or," Kaoru stressed the syllable, "obey you, so let's not even entertain the event of me honoring and obeying you," Kaoru finished with an emphasis on the 'and'. "Your memory must be slipping in your old age."

Low blow, the like of which he'd doubtless be receiving more and more the longer he hung around Kaoru.

"You ran out of insults that fast that you had to fall back on our age difference, dear?" Ken asked smoothly.

Kaoru blinked. Had Ken just called her 'dear'? It was probably just a tactical move to keep her off balance.

"Oh there are plenty more waiting where that came from. More importantly, I guess this means you're not making me French toast and waffles?" Kaoru asked in a valiant attempt to change the subject.

The false smile on Ken's face was spooky.

"When you so recklessly went to the store the other day, you bought waffle cereal." He pointed to the box sitting in the middle of the table among a couple other varieties. "Would you like me to get you some milk?"

Kaoru glared at him and muttered a sullen yes. The first round went to Ken, but the night was young and she had full confidence in her ability to come away in the position of overall winner. And for now, in Ken she had her own personal servant who fetched her milk as well as a bowl and spoon. Kaoru possessed full confidence that she could at least convince him to do the dishes.

"What are you smiling for? You lost," Ken declared bluntly, placing the half gallon of milk and eating utensils on the table in front of her.

Kaoru realized she'd begun to smile without noticing. That's what the smell of potential victory did to you. She bounced from her chair and flung her arms around Ken's neck. "What don't I have to smile about?" she enjoyed watching a small flicker of surprise flutter on and bounce off of Ken's features. "So at least tell me one thing we're doing tonight after you feed," she requested, enjoying the sensation of his arms reflexively encircling her waist.

"Research."

"Research doesn't tell me much. Where? When?"

"The symphony," Ken told her reluctantly.

Kaoru's eyes lit up. "Which orchestra?"

"The Los Angeles Philharmonic something."

"Wow. I've heard of them. So this means I get a new dress, right?"

"What about the one you wore the other day?"

"It's dirty because I was wearing it when we did the laundry. Besides, it's not formal. Does this mean I'm coming with you when you feed and then we're going to a store to get some clothes and then we're going to the orchestra?"

Just as he suspected, telling Kaoru about the orchestra equaled mistake. Ken sighed. "I guess so."

"Good. Because I've been curious as to how you actually do it."

"Do what?"

"You know, feed."

Ken sighed. "It's not something you want to see, Kaoru. I'd rather you didn't."

"You're forever making me stay behind, Kenshin. It's a part of your life and I want to know you more than I do now. So I want you to let me come."

The air contained none of the lighter tones present wafting through that it had moments ago. Kaoru was serious. But self-doubt was also a serious thing, and Kenshin Himura had been inflicted with it since before he'd become a vampire. Kaoru sensed this, or at least that some reason existed more than the one Ken had given. So she waited.

"I'd rather you didn't," he repeated again.

"I want to. Do I have to pester you into bending to my will?"

He appreciated her attempt to make light of the issue, but for him, it was only an attempt. "Kaoru," he started.

Kaoru cut him off. "This isn't going to make me hate you."

"I know. But I'm not sure how much control I'll have at that point."

So he didn't trust himself enough not to hurt her, Kaoru concluded. That's what it came down to in the end. "Well I am. And even if I'm wrong, I'll have enough control for both of us."

She could still sense his hesitation, but he didn't argue. Perhaps he couldn't find the words? But that was uncharacteristic of him. He must have decided to give in. Point for Kaoru. All smiles once again, she stood on her toes and kissed his mouth, leaning into her body into his. It barely took him a heartbeat to kiss her back.

It was settled then.

-  
Hey, do you know what's going on with the humans? I headed over to the office, but the door was locked._  
Why'd you go so early?__  
What do you mean early? I went the same time I go every week.__  
Hahahaha__  
What?__  
I can't believe you forgot.__  
What?!__  
It's daylight savings time, baka.  
What? . . . Damnit!_  
-

__

Soujiro had been awake for over thirty-six hours. Considering the circumstances, he didn't think anyone could honestly expect him to drop his guard and sleep. As soon as he'd adjusted to sitting in the back of the car with three blood-sucking vampires, all too conscious of the fact that he had blood and the fact that he needed said blood, as soon as he'd accepted that fact, the Uzi vampire had blindfolded him. Then he'd had to come to terms with the fact that he was a giant container of blood, sitting in a car with three blood-sucking vampires, blindfolded. No, he hadn't been happy. The silence in the car had also contributed to the fact that he was less happy than he could have been, if it was possible that he could have been happy in the first place. He'd been moderately pleased when the car had stopped, but the Uzi vampire then warned him not to take off his blindfold, so he'd sunk down into depression again.

Soujiro wondered what kind of impression he made for the other vampires he heard greet the ones he was with, as he entered the building, guided by the Uzi vampire. Probably a weak one. He didn't want to appear weak when every vampire in the facility had access to the rooms they'd given him. They were probably watching him via a hidden camera that very second. It wasn't even like he'd done anything worth watching, besides smell vaguely like Shishio. Oh yes, Sou noted grimly, he'd heard several whispers addressing that issue the previous night as he'd been led to these rooms.

His stomach growled. Did vampires even bother to keep food around? His watch told him the time: early evening. The sun had set. Shouldn't someone come in to tell him what was going on soon? If his uncle let him rot in vampire prison…

"So you're Seta Soujiro."

"How did you get in?"

The woman was not supposed to be there. He'd only taken his gaze from the door a moment…

"What do you mean? I just walked in the door. I brought you dinner."

She was carrying a tray laden with food. Soujiro vaguely wondered if the food was drugged, but the smell of stuffing and turkey reached his nose and he suddenly remembered that it had been eighteen hours since he'd eaten. She set the tray down on the table in front of him and seated herself in the chair at the opposite end of the small table. Sou started salivating.

"Have you been treated well? Usui's not the most gentle man. He can be reckless with his strength. Did he bruise your neck?"

Soujiro blinked at the brown-eyed woman. She acted too nice to be a vampire. Her voice was high-pitched with a slight lilt. She gave the impression of kindness, her eyes soft and serene beneath her brown bangs. And his neck was bruised? He ran his fingers over it lightly and winced. He hadn't noticed until she'd asked, but it hurt to talk too.

"I'll be okay."

Her eyes clouded. "I didn't think it would be this bad. I hope you can swallow the food. If it hurts too much, then just drink the tea. I had the cook put some herbs in it to sooth your throat."

Soujiro looked down at the tray in front of him. Poisoned or no?

"Please, eat," she said kindly. "Yahiko told me you threw up last night. You probably don't have any food in you. I promise it'll taste good."

Soujiro didn't doubt that, judging from the smell of the food, and anything would taste better than the faint tinge of vomit still gracing his tongue.

"Who's Yahiko?" he asked, not quite having gathered the courage to take a bite. He did pick up the fork on the side of the tray though. He could at least play along.

"You met him last night. He's the Juppongatana leader. After you're done eating, I'm going to take you to him. We're going to meet with someone."

"Who?"

She glanced away, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I wasn't given instructions as to whether I'm cleared to tell you this information. But I will if you at least take a bite of food. The Juppongatana needs you, and I can't have you passing out at a crucial moment."

Soujiro sighed. "Fine." He stabbed a forkful of stuffing, sent a prayer to the Lord, and took the plunge.

Ten seconds, fifteen seconds, thirty seconds passed and he wasn't dead. Of course it could be a slow acting poison. If that was the case, he my as well take another bite, because he was dead already, and the food wasn't bad. Another bite and Sou realized just how hungry his body was, which increased his appetite until he was literally feeding his face.

She laughed.

"I knew you'd like it. Even Yahiko does, and he doesn't actually need food." She leaned back in her chair and waited until he'd finished. Every time he looked up she was in the same spot, watching him with a content smile on her face, humming a tune he didn't recognize.

When he was finished and he still wasn't dead, he asked her who he was going to meet.

"We," she corrected. "I don't expect you could get there on your own. I have to tell you though, that until this is over, you're not going back to your uncle. Your knowledge would jeopardize the person we're going to meet. I know you don't want to be responsible for a death."

Soujiro nodded, remembering the confusion he'd felt when he'd seen Jineh's body, the revulsion. The woman was right, but still he resented the way she'd lectured him in that last sentence, as if they were teacher and student in class.

"I didn't expect to be alive tonight. I'll be grateful for whatever extra time I receive."

She seemed genuinely disturbed. "You're not going to die. I'll protect you."

Soujiro doubted a petite waif of a woman like her could protect him from a horde of vampires, or this dark one everyone kept talking about, or even his uncle. "I think it's more like I'm supposed to protect you," he ventured.

She blinked, clearly surprised, before dissolving into girlish giggles. A few tears leaked from her eyes. "Oh dear," she said with a hiccup, still laughing. "What will my husband say when he hears this?"

Soujiro felt his cheeks blush red. "Oh," was all he managed to muster.

She calmed, degree by degree, until she hiccupped one last time and was able to speak. "I'm more than capable of taking care of myself and you, Soujiro, but I find it adorable that you volunteered to protect me," she told him in her serious girl's voice.

"I'm not volunteering," Soujiro protested. "I'm saying I'll do it, as best I can, which probably isn't very well compared to your husband, but I guess he'll appreciate the help when he's not around."

She was serious now. "That's very kind of you, Soujiro. We shall protect each other then. I'm sure all this is very lonely for you, so I'll try to be there to keep you amused. But let me tell you what we're doing first."

Soujiro sighed. Women. She was still treating him like he was a kid. She was nice, but stubborn. He'd just have to prove he wasn't then. Yeah, like that was going to happen any time soon.

"We're meeting with Yahiko, but you should call him Myojin. Don't forget that. He'd probably be mad if he knew I told you his first name. Oh well. Anyway, we're meeting with the Battousai…"

Soujiro blanked out. That meant Kaoru would be there. Kaoru. He didn't think himself ready to see her yet. The pain throbbed even now, in the back of his mind like a headache, always there. They'd broken up. His witnessing her kissing another man had broken them up. He'd often wondered since when she'd planned on telling him. That was what hurt most of all, that she'd been cheating on him. He knew she hadn't gone out of her way to find the Battousai, her 'Ken'. She'd told him that on the phone, but Sou hated to think of what she must have left out. She must have been attracted to him even then. If he hadn't gone to Japan with his family, if he'd been there to pick her up, she never would have gone with the Battousai, never would have gone to him. Shishio would still be in the mental hospital, Soujiro would be in Japan, calling Kaoru every other day, and they'd be just as in love, just as secure in their feelings for each other as they'd been a year ago.

But he had to wonder how secure they'd been if a week with another man could change her so drastically, lead her to conclude she hadn't been in love with him after all, or, at least, that she could love the Battousai more. And she did love him more. That had also hurt. It wasn't just a passing fancy. It was like one of those perfect couples you saw walking down the street, secure with one another. You looked at them and thought, wow. I wish I had that with someone. Before that night on the beach, he'd thought he had.

The brown-haired, brown-eyed woman's hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his thoughts.

"You're sad. What's wrong?"

Soujiro pasted on his best smile. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name."

"Tsubame."

"Thank you for the food, Tsubame. I'm ready to go now, I think."

She withdrew her hand from his shoulder, watching his eyes carefully. "You don't have to tell me." She watched him longer, but Sou made certain that his smile didn't waver. "Alright. Follow me please."

She turned away and Sou stood, stretched a moment, and trailed behind her from the room.

_-  
I find it ironic.  
Me too.__  
Very ironic.__  
I hear you.__  
How can we get thrown out of a party for not having costumes?__  
I know.__  
We told them we were vampires!__  
I know.__  
Even showed them our fangs…__  
I know.__  
That's messed up.__  
I know.  
-  
_

"I love it when you wear tank tops," Ken said in her ear from behind as he loped his arms around her.

"What do you mean, when I wear tank tops? This is the first time I've worn just a tank top to go out," Kaoru informed him, watching his reflection in the floor length mirror as she put her hair up in a ponytail.

"Wear them more often," he advised, playing a hand across her stomach as he watched their reflection.

She finished tying up her hair and lowered her arms to rest on his, meeting his eyes in the mirror. "My father wouldn't be very pleased with you."

"He'll come around eventually."

Kaoru smiled.

For once he seemed to have said the right thing. It was hard to tell with Kaoru really. But then she wouldn't be half as interesting if he could read her like a book.

Kaoru acknowledged that a gap existed between woman and man, a gap which forever prevented them from fully understanding each other. She realized that because of said gap, Ken probably hadn't realized what he'd just implied. But somewhere inside of him, he must have, or else he wouldn't have said it. He wouldn't have implied that he'd be around to meet her father, that in fact, he wanted to meet her father. Lord, was she still so insecure about their relationship? Sigh. She was. And there wasn't anything to do about it until the whole mess with the dark one was over. Then she'd have to sit down and really think, which she dreaded doing, because she most likely wasn't going to like doing whatever she decided upon the conclusion of her thinking session.

"Are you ready to go?"

Kaoru nodded to his reflection. "I just have to go put the earrings on in the bathroom."

Ken sighed and turned her around to face him. He kissed the hollow of her throat, once, briefly. "You're sure?"

"I surely I am sure by now," she smiled.

"That was dumb."

"I said it to relieve the gravity of the situation."

"I got that."

"Oh, you did?"

"Yes."

"That's good then." She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew close, until she could feel his breath on her face. "Because it would really suck if you didn't get my jokes."

**A/N – There you have it. Chapter 19. Hope you liked it. Sorry not that much happened action wise. I had to provide some character interaction. You'll see why. So yeah. Until next time.**

**Aryanne**


	20. Gut Feeling

**A/N – I know, I know. It's been too long. Don't worry. I'll never quite writing this story until it's over. That said, thanks to all the reviewers and I hope you have a happy holiday season. Enjoy.  
(This is an edit of the original chapter 20. Thanks to an anonymous reviewer named Kamille, I realized I'd made some critical mistakes to the story which I had to revise.)  
**

**-**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**-**

**Silver Cross**

**-**

**Chapter 20 – Gut Feeling**

**-**

_Peanut, peanut butter, and jam!  
You're saying it wrong.__  
What?__  
It's peanut, peanut butter, and jelly!__  
No it's not.__  
Yeah, it is.__  
I've always heard it sung jam.__  
No. I know for a fact that it's jelly.__  
I think you're wrong.__  
You're the one who's wrong.__  
You're full of it.__  
You suck.__  
You suck more.__  
Why are you all up in my face?__  
What? You have a problem with that?__  
Yes. I do.__  
Then do something about it.__  
This is dumb.__  
What? You chickening out?__  
We're fighting about jam and jelly.__  
Oh yeah._

-

"A cow?"

"Yeah. What did you expect?"

"First of all, I didn't expect there to be any farms anywhere close to L.A. And I guess it just never occurred to me to wonder what exact animal you fed on. This certainly isn't rats like in 'Interview with the Vampire'. What did you think of that movie by the way?"

They're trespassing on a dairy farm under cover of darkness and Kaoru asks him what he thought of a movie. Life's like that sometimes.

Ken scanned the open ground in front of the barn he'd chosen before they broke from the cover of the forest. "Kaoru, this farm has guard dogs. Be quiet and watch where you're walking."

"Sorry, I'm just a little nervous. I haven't trespassed since I was in middle school and snuck into an old house on a dare," she confessed from behind him.

As far as he could tell, no one was around. No guard dogs, no humans, and he didn't sense any vampires. "What about the apartment you met me in that the hunters burned down?" Ken reminded her.

"That doesn't count. It was your fault."

"Doesn't the idea of security dogs scare you?"

"Not really," Kaoru whispered. "I have a dog. What are they going to do to me with you around anyway?"

She was incorrigible. "Stay here while I break into the barn. I want you undercover in case there's an alarm on it I can't disable."

Before Kaoru could process what he'd said, Ken had already vaulted over the fence and was running to the middle of the three barns. She half feared he wouldn't come back to her until after he finished feeding, even though he'd promised to let her witness it. Kaoru hoped he didn't think she had some sick fascination with blood and violence. It wasn't that she wanted to see him feed, more that she wanted to confirm in her mind that he truly was a vampire. She'd seen the signs. His skin was paler than usual under his tan, and not quite as warm as it had been before. His canine tooth had pierced her tongue the first time they'd kissed because it was so sharp; his speed exceeded that of any track star's, and she knew he trod harder than he normally did just so she could hear his footsteps. The list went on.

But she'd never seen him feed. Wasn't that what vampires were infamous for? They weren't known for their poise or for the knowledge they'd gained from the excess number of years they'd lived. They were known for dark suites, black capes, red lips, sharp fangs, and blood dripping down their chins. They were known for the feral look in their eyes, their lack of mercy, for inspiring terror, for treachery and manipulation.

Kaoru needed to see Ken feed, because even now, some foolish part of her thought they could be together. And she needed to crush it. Because all the other traits that made Ken who he was had gotten to her, the way his eye color shifted to fit his mood, the way he blamed himself for everything, how easily Saitou made him mad, the way he hugged her, the way he avoided hugging Kamatari, the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention, the way he looked at her when he knew she was paying attention.

He motioned for her to come. Kaoru wondered if Ken expected her to jump over the fence as easily as he had. She decided he probably did. What was with making her sweat before going to the symphony? Not acceptable. She would tell him that when she wasn't so terrified. Glad Kamatari had outfitted her with boots and glad that Ken had made her wear them, Kaoru shot from the brush cover and ran as fast as she could towards the fence. It wasn't until she was ten feet away from it that she took in its full height and realized there was no way she was jumping over a twelve foot chain link fence. At least no barbed wire curled at the top. Keeping that glad fact in mind, she set arms and legs to climbing, something she'd done before during her brief stint in military camp the summer before her senior year of high school.

Kaoru was relieved to find she didn't have too much trouble finding footholds. She'd worried that the toes of her boots might have been too large to fit between the woven links. She reached the top in record time, for a human anyway, and swung first her left leg over, then the right. Then she was climbing down the other side. Kaoru let herself drop the last four feet. It felt good to jump. She glanced around to make sure no one had seen her, although the farmhouse lay around a curve in the road behind her. She and Ken had cut through the woods and past the house to get to the barns. Knowing her night vision wasn't as keen as Ken's, but satisfied since he wasn't showing any signs of alarm from where he stood in the doorway, Kaoru ran across the open dirt that had once been a lawn and slipped through the door into the barn. Ken slid it shut behind her and drew the bolt across.

"That wasn't so bad," Kaoru breathed to the blackness in front of her. It was murky inside the windowless barn.

"Take the flashlight." Ken held it out to her.

Kaoru waved her hand around in his general direction. "I can't see at all."

"Sorry." Ken had forgotten she'd be totally blind. She was only human. He had to keep reminding himself of that fact. He took her hand and placed the flashlight in her palm, watching as her fingers closed around it. "Here's the switch to turn it on and off," Ken instructed her, drawing her index finger down to the button on the body of the long flashlight. "We'll wait until your eyes adjust so you don't have to use it."

Kaoru nodded. "Alright." Then Ken's too cold hand was gone and she was left gripping the light, waiting for her eyes to work again. "Are you going anywhere?"

"Just to check the place out, make sure there aren't any doggy doors or anything. Stay calm, so you don't make the cows uneasy."

Kaoru had almost forgotten about the cows, now their stench came rushing through her nostrils and she remembered why she'd never visited any of the Amish farms near her house. She clamped her hand to her mouth in disgust, to nauseous to breathe through her nose, but disgusted at the idea of breathing the scent through her mouth and tasting it on her tongue. No wonder Ken hated being a vampire if he had to go through this every few days. She knew his senses were more enhanced then hers. How did he take it?

Kaoru was so busy obsessing about the stench that she didn't notice her eyes had adjusted until she spotted movement, one of the cows shifting in its pen. Then her world grew larger and she cast the smell aside to take in the large objects looming around her. Milk machines, the cow pens, and various stalls lay in front of her, while directly to her right two work jumpers hung on pegs. Kaoru started, she'd almost mistaken them for humans.

A dark shape stalked towards her from the far left corner of the barn. Kaoru froze until she recognized Ken's walk. "I can see now," she called softly across the space between them.

"Alright, come here then. I've chosen a healthy cow. She won't miss the blood."

Kaoru followed him to a side of the pen where a huge cow lay, watching them warily. Before she could ask how this sort of thing was gone about, Ken climbed over the pen's fence and crouched down next to the cow. The animal started in surprise, but Ken murmured to her and stroked her back until she calmed. Even Kaoru, outside the fence and conscious of the fact that she was breaking who knew how many federal laws, had eased down to her normal plane of alertness when Ken bent suddenly and sunk his fangs into the cow's neck. Kaoru gasped and jumped, while the cow let out a low moo.

Perhaps because she'd seen so many Halloween flicks Kaoru could shake away the image of Ken crouched by the cow, his mouth on its fur, drinking. But, the sound got to her, a slight noise she could barely hear over the sound of the herd breathing and the stench, but present nonetheless. Reflexively, she dropped the flashlight to cover her ears with both thinly gloved hands. So this was life as a vampire. Feeding on humans was saved only for the glory days. This was reality, kneeling in the dirt, preying on a mindless creature. The life of a vampire wasn't any more glamorous then hers, really. Ken still had problems, low days, self-doubt. And although he possessed superhuman strength, senses, and abilities, he was also possessed by this, by the desire for blood. And that Kaoru knew she could live without.

So, all delusions of grandeur gone, and with Ken brought down from the high pillar he'd once stood upon in her mind, Kaoru dropped her hands from her ears and bent to pick up the flashlight. When she stood up he stood in front of her.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru couldn't help exclaiming in surprise. She couldn't help an involuntary step backwards either. Something flashed in his eyes, but he hadn't been gazing at her directly, so she missed her chance to interpret the emotion. "Are you done already?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes."

"Then let's get out of here. I'm starting to creep myself out." Kaoru said lightly, taking his hand with her free one. She was a little unnerved by the speed he must have used to be standing in front of her when she rose from picking up the flashlight. Kaoru glanced past him towards the cow. The animal had risen and made its way towards the rest of the herd. Kaoru didn't think it even showed signs of being faint. Just how much blood did Ken need and how much did cows have anyway?

"She's fine."

Kaoru strove to meet Ken's eyes, but the dark prevented her from gauging his expression. "Did you get enough?" she asked, noticing that while his hand was warm, by no means was it as warm as it had been the last time he'd come back from feeding.

"Yes. Let's go."

Kaoru wasn't too disturbed by the fact that Ken had failed to open up. He'd said that he couldn't trust himself around her directly after he fed. He was probably just holding back so he didn't do anything he regretted later. Sometimes Ken really was dumb. Kaoru didn't believe that he would ever hurt her, no matter how close to the edge he came. Still, she didn't think she'd come along with him again. She'd argued that it would save time, but both she and Ken would obviously need showers before they were fit to go to a store and buy outfits, let alone head to the symphony.

Ken paused at the barn door, glancing around the open space outside to be sure no attack dogs or angry farmers lurked anywhere near. He didn't want to have to deal with an outsider when he was having trouble dealing with Kaoru. She probably realized he couldn't handle conversation right now. He only wished she realized he didn't particularly feel as if he should touch her right now. At least she wore gloves so he couldn't directly feel her skin and could only sense her pulse faintly through the fabric.

"What do I do with the flashlight?" Kaoru whispered from behind him.

"Just leave it on the ground. They'll know we were here anyway." Ken made sure he heard the clink of the flashlight as it was reacquainted with the ground before pulling Kaoru forward and out the door. Too late he noticed the German Shepard sniffing around the fence. He stopped still, but Kaoru couldn't, bumping into him with a loud muffled cry that alerted the dog.

"Why'd you stop-"

Kaoru's question cut off when the first bark sounded loud in front of them.

"What's the plan, Ken?" Kaoru whispered. She was careful not to let any fear or uncertainty make it to her voice, especially when the barks of at least two other dogs reached her ears from other parts of the farm.

Ken turned and scooped her up. "Grab the fence when I throw you," Ken instructed as he started to run forward towards the dog and the fence.

"Throw me!" The words were barely out of her mouth when Kaoru found herself a little too close to the sharp canines of the Shepard in front of her. Before she found time to be dismayed at the latest development Ken's arms were no longer around her, she was airborne, and the fence was flying towards her at a most uncomfortable speed.

She couldn't say it didn't hurt when she hit, but she was happy to be able to say that there was no way in hell she wasn't going to grab onto the fence, not when another dog had joined the first and was snapping at her feet. She could hardly believe Ken had thrown her up to the top of the twelve foot fence, but he'd aimed perfectly so that her hands were only inches from the top of the fence and her feet were well above biting range. Ken certainly intended for her to start climbing over and not look back until she was safe on the other side, but Kaoru couldn't help but glance behind her as she got her footing in the chain links. The first dog was making a lunge for Ken's throat, which he promptly halted by punching the dog square in the nose and using it's still airborne body to vault himself onto the fence. He didn't get nearly as high up as she had, but he managed to kick the dog that was jumping for her ankles and begin climbing up.

"Move, Kaoru!" he yelled when he saw her staring down at him.

The whole thing had lasted a total of two seconds. Kaoru was definitely impressed. It was really too bad when she heard a gun shot and human shouts. It ruined the moment.

"Move, Kaoru!" Ken repeated.

And this time, Kaoru moved, swinging her body over the fence and then dropping down at the six foot level to avoid the jaws of the dogs who were now snarling at her through the fence.

Ken landed neatly next to her. "Come on. We can make it to the car."

_- _

_What's this?  
Eye shadow.__  
What about this?__  
Mascara.__  
This?__  
Foundation makeup.__  
I take it you've become a cross dresser then?__  
Just for Mardi Gras._

-

"Where are we going?" Soujiro asked as he followed Tsubame down the hallway.

"The mall."

"The mall," Sou repeated incredulously. "What are we going there for?"

Tsubame didn't turn to face him. "We need to acquire the proper clothing for our meeting with the Battousai."

"Proper clothing?"

The tall vampire in front of Tsubame, one of the ones from last night, turned. "You'll find out soon enough, kid. Just relax."

"Why do I need proper clothing to meet him? The first time I saw him, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt." Soujiro muttered to himself.

"He's an influential vampire," Tsubame replied, startling Sou. "And please don't question the authority of the leader of the Juppongatana."

"He's the leader?" Soujiro exclaimed incredulously.

"Yeah, kid." The brown-eyed vampire with the spiky hair who had convinced Soujiro by his actions that vampires maybe weren't all that bad was the head of Los Angeles's largest vampire organization. Only vampire organization. And he'd protected Soujiro's life just last night, which was more than his uncle would have done.

"Now that my wife told you before I wanted you to know," an indecipherable look flashed between the couple, "I my as well introduce myself formally."

And he was the husband of Tsubame, who'd seemed so human in this mess. Sure Sou had known she wasn't. There was no way she could be human, but he'd kinda–sorta hoped to come in contact with another human in all this.

"Myojin Yahiko," the leader introduced himself the Nihon way, "head of the Juppongatana." He held out his hand. After a moment of hesitation, Soujiro took it. The man's grip was firm and his hand was warm. He appeared all too human. They let go.

"And this is my wife, Myojin Tsubame."

Tsubame nodded once to Sou.

"I've assigned her to protect you until you're returned to neutral territory. As second in command of the Juppongatana, Tsubame is skilled in all types of weaponry and is head of the security division. You'll be safe with her."

Sou looked down at petite Tsubame with a little awe. He didn't want to begin to imagine what this small woman was capable of, and still she seemed so meek. Sou figured he wasn't the first person to underestimate her.

"The man behind you is my first in command," Myojin continued.

Sou turned. He hadn't paid much attention to the vampire following along to behind him, assuming he was a simple guard there to keep him in line. It appeared there was more to the tall man with the wolfish countenance.

"Saitou Hajime. He and the Battousai are enemies, but I take pleasure in forcing them to work together."

Saitou didn't spare Sou so much as a glance, only let out a puff of smoke from his foul smelling cigarette. "Let's get going, Myojin. I'm anxious to witness the Battousai's reaction to what you have to tell him." Now he glanced down at Sou. "Come to think of it, the girl's reaction ought to be interesting as well, considering her temper."

Sou knew he was being baited, but he couldn't resist asking. "You met Kaoru?"

Saitou nodded. "I've had the pleasure, yes." He brushed past Sou. "Let's go, Myojin."

Great. Now Sou had another thing to wonder about. When and where had Saitou met Kaoru? He must have been around her for at least a few hours to have gotten a sample of her temper. Knowing Kaoru, this man in particular wouldn't have had a hard time setting her off. Saitou was starting to grate on Sou's nerves already. A tiny part of Sou declared the Battousai couldn't be so bad if he considered Saitou and enemy.

Sou wondered why Tsubame hadn't told him exactly who she was right away. True, if she had, there was no way he would have come to trust her, as he unfailingly did for some reason, but he still resented the deception. And in the meantime, he was heading to the mall with three vampires.

_- _

_Oh my God, Ken! I can't believe you told me to do that!  
What?__  
Remember how you said to compliment a contact to make them feel better?__  
Yeah. So?__  
Well I did! And it was horrible.__  
What did you say?__  
I just said the basics about her being pretty and that she looked like she'd lost weight.__  
Okay. So what's the matter?__  
What's the matter is she started shrieking at me about how she was so fat and half crying while she was shrieking at me, and I couldn't get her to stop! The girl's crazy! I finally just ran away when she started screaming about how big her bedonkey was. She actually used the word bedonkey! The girl has scarred me for life. I'm never talking to a woman about her weight again! I'm never taking your advice on women again! And I'm going to go out and get a shrink, again!_

-

"I love showers."

Kaoru had been saying the same thing for the last fifteen minutes. Ken suspected she didn't want to talk about what he wanted to talk about, which wasn't much of a surprise, since he didn't really want to talk about it either.

"I love lotion, I love clean clothes, and I love little dabs of perfume in the right places. I love flowers, I love soaps-"

"Were you really that scarred by the smell?" Ken remarked dryly. He felt a little angry that Kaoru had so effectively concentrated on the worst element of feeding on animals. She'd asked to come. He hadn't even wanted her to, so what right did she have to complain?

"No," Kaoru retorted as if he had just accused her of committing some gross atrocity. "I'm just happy that the car's all aired out and that I'm not a cow farmer. The cow smell isn't new to me. I live near Amish country, remember?"

He'd forgotten. But it wasn't like he should be expected to remember every little detail about Kaoru, so he decided silence was the best course of action.

"Anyway," Kaoru continued, "the only part I regret about going was being snapped at by guard dogs, and even that wasn't so much scary as exciting."

Ken took his eyes from the road to give her an incredulous glance.

"Oh come on, I knew you weren't going to let us get bitten by guard dogs and taken to the police station by a couple of farmers for trespassing when you have more important things to do."

"You have a point," Ken acknowledged, taking the mall exit from the freeway.

"Right. So I'm saying I'm glad I went along," Kaoru stated firmly, "I needed to come to terms with a few things."

Ken raised an eyebrow as he turned into the mall parking lots. "A few things? Why so mysterious, Kaoru?"

Kaoru fought back the urge to squirm. "Do you think I'm being mysterious?"

Ken was too busy searching for a parking spot to look at her expression. "Yeah, I do. Are you going to tell me why?"

"You don't need to know every single thing I'm thinking."

Jackpot. Ken spotted a car backing out of a parking spot that was actually near the building. "Fine." He could feel Kaoru narrowing her eyes at him and figured she had reason enough to do that. He would normally have tried to get it out of her, but he was getting a bad feeling about the mall. Not as if Kaoru or he was in danger, but he sensed something was going to happen and he wouldn't be very happy about it.

"Fine? That's it?" Kaoru asked as he backed in to the parking spot. "You don't care what I'm thinking?"

Ken shut off the car engine. "I didn't say that."

"Then why'd you say fine and just leave the issue wide open?"

"Because I don't feel like arguing with you right now," Ken answered, pocketing the keys and unbuckling his seat belt.

"So you think I would turn it into an argument."

Ken opened his door and turned to make eye contact. "Haven't you?"

Kaoru let out a frustrated breath as she watched him shut the door. Sometimes, she wouldn't mind grabbing him by the neck and shaking him until, well until he saw things her way. But no matter, she was at the mall after all, and to buy a whole outfit no less. That should be some consolation. And even though it wasn't, Kaoru un-strapped her seatbelt, grabbed her purse from where she'd dropped it on the floor between her legs, and exited the car with a fair amount of grace, considering the high heeled boots she wore.

For the sake of not arguing, Kaoru decided to put aside the conversation they'd just had and try to make things pleasant for both of them. Ken waited for her at the back of the car.

"So how much time to we have to shop?" Kaoru asked lightly as they started walking towards the mall entrance.

If Ken was surprised at her casual tone, he didn't let it show. "An hour."

Kaoru frowned. They only had an hour to buy a dress, shoes, jewelry, a matching purse, do her hair, and find Ken a suit and a nice pair of shoes. She was going to have to settle for whatever was available in the first department store they entered to be done on time. Hopefully Ken would start talking once they got inside the mall. She must have said something to set him off and into reserved mode again, because he'd been acting normally up until they started their drive to the mall. Wasn't the man in the relationship supposed to be the one who couldn't figure out the woman?

Kaoru sighed and thanked Ken for holding the door open for her. She gave up on casual conversation and headed straight for the mall directory.

"A department store would be best," Ken said from behind her.

"The closest one is only three doors down on the right. Is that okay?" Kaoru asked, turning to face him.

"Sure."

Ken wasn't really sure why he hadn't wanted to go to that particular department store. He just knew he didn't. But it was ridiculous, not wanting to go to a department store when they had to go to a department store or deal with a pissed off Juppongatana when they were late for the meeting. By now, Ken had learned to trust his gut feeling, and that second-guessing said gut feeling brought nothing but misery. So why was he second-guessing it now? Eh, probably because Kaoru was around.

"Excuse me, miss," Kaoru approached a young salesclerk, "My husband and I are both looking for outfits."

"What's the occasion ma'am?"

"The symphony in an hour."

The salesclerk smiled. "Alright. Just head to men's suits on your right and I'll send over our new clerk to outfit you both personally. He'll prefer to find you a suit first, sir, since that's sure to be easier. He'll be with you in a moment," the salesclerk informed the both before hurrying away.

Kaoru looked to Ken for confirmation. He shrugged, so she led the way to the suit department. It would be fun to pick out something for Ken to wear.

"A black suit, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked, staring up at the various suits on display. "Black goes with everything, so it's sure to go with my dress."

How was he to say this? "I don't really care, Kaoru. Whatever is fine."

"But, Kenshin, I want some input!"

"Fine. Black. I'll try on whatever you pick," Ken gave in before heading over to a cluster of chairs to sit down wearily.

"Ken-nii!?! Is that you?!"

Now Ken knew why he'd been dreading this particular department store. His gut feeling had warned him again. Before he could protest he was dragged to his feet and hugged in powerful embrace.

"It is you! I can't believe we were destined to meet again so soon! How are you honey?"

"Let me go," Ken gritted out.

"Kao-nii-chan!"

Ken was promptly let go and only just stopped himself from falling.

"Kamatari! What are you doing here?" Kaoru asked as she returned the cross-dresser's hug.

"I was transferred here. Don't tell me you two are the married couple!" Kamatari dragged Kaoru over so she stood next to Ken. "Oh, this is too cute! I knew you'd find someone Ken-nii! Wow, Kao-nii-chan! You have to tell me how you did it?"

"Did what?"

"Got Ken-nii to fall for you!"

Ken was going to faint. Any second now, he was going to faint.

Kaoru blushed. "We're not really married. We're sort of undercover as a married couple."

Kamatari looked as if he was going to cry. "What?" His bottom lip trembled. "You mean you're not really married?"

Kaoru smiled. "No. Besides, I would have invited you to the wedding."

Kamatari's face brightened considerably. "I guess that's true." He sighed theatrically. "When you do get married, I'll design the wedding clothes for free."

Yup. Any second now.

Kaoru blushed and decided to avoid that topic. "Well, for now, we need a suit for Ken and a dress for me."

Kamatari waved his hand, "Of course, of course. The cute little salesclerk told me you're going to the symphony. How much time to I have?"

"A little less than an hour. I guess we need to walk out wearing the clothes too. There's no time to change in between."

Kamatari nodded. "Right. Right. Ordinarily, I would have you pick out a dress first so Ken's suit would match it, but since there's so little time we'll do the suit first, then the dress, the jewelry, the purse and shoes, and a dab of perfume and cologne to finish it off. You'll just have to wear your hair out, so I'm thinking of a dress with a low back." Kamatari broke off, deep in thought. "I can think of four possible dresses that could work for your body type, Kaoru, but let's do the suit first."

And so it was that Ken found himself being fussed over by Kaoru and Kamatari, whom he had honestly hoped never to see again. At times Kamatari said things so embarrassing that he came even closer to the edge of fainting, but somehow he managed to hold on until Kamatari finally clapped his hands in delight, declared the sixth suit perfect for their Ken-nii, and fluttered off to grab the four dresses he thought would be perfect for Kaoru.

"Wow, Kamatari certainly is a whiz. We still have a half hour left before we have to get going. That suit really does look good on you, Kenshin," Kaoru chattered, looking over it closely and walking around him once to survey the effect. "Don't you want to look at yourself in the mirror?"

He was a little curious, but Kaoru had clearly forgotten vampires weren't reflected in mirrors.

"I'd prefer not to."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Humans can't see vampire reflections, remember? I don't want a scene if one of the other customers realizes I don't have a reflection."

"Oh yeah," Kaoru said. "That must drive Kamatari crazy," she giggled, "having to stay away from mirrors."

Ken had never considered that before. Knowing how vain the man was, it was probably true. He was grateful to Kaoru for making light of the issue.

"Ah well. You do look great though, Kenshin. And thanks for putting up with me and Kamatari. Isn't it weird that he's here too?"

"Damn straight it's weird. He must know something he's not telling me," Ken brooded somewhat sulkily.

"But Kamatari likes you-"

"Let's not talk about that," Ken interrupted.

"No. I mean, he really, genuinely, likes you as a friend," Kaoru stubbornly continued. "He's obviously not here by coincidence, but I know he's on our side. If he's not telling us something, it's for our own good. I'm sure he'll tell us before we leave. Just let him have his fun first. This is an excellent excuse for him to be around you and we my as well let him enjoy it."

"Let him enjoy it!" Ken spluttered out, shocked.

"Yes. It's obvious that you've been avoiding him for years now. Maybe if you saw him regularly he wouldn't put so much effort into trying to charm you."

Ken stared down at her. "Kaoru. I think he's gotten to you."

Kaoru rolled her eyes. It looked like the only two people in the world who could make Ken lose his cool, besides her of course, were Kamatari and Saitou. She wondered how he'd interacted with Sano.

"Kao-nii-chan! Ken-nii! Come to the women's fitting room, please," Kamatari's voice called over the loudspeaker.

Ken put his head in his hands and groaned.

Kaoru rolled her eyes again and grabbed his arm.

Ken had to admit that watching Kaoru try on dresses was a pleasant experience. If Kamatari hadn't been there to ruin it and she'd been trying on underwear he would have had an even more pleasant experience, but Kamatari was there and dresses weren't underwear.

"What do you think of this one, Ken?" Kaoru asked, emerging from the fitting room for the second time.

"I like this color better than the first one."

Things went okay when all he was required to do was remark on what he liked better. Ken knew that as long as he didn't say anything along the lines of, that last dress made you look thinner, or you shouldn't wear short dresses because your legs aren't long enough, he would be fine. Luckily, Kaoru's legs were long enough anyway.

She and Kamatari finally decided on a deep purple dress with a low back that showed enough curves and leg for Ken, so he was satisfied.

"Oh my gosh!" Kamatari squealed. "I know just where the right shoes and purse are for this dress! And I even remember your shoe size. Stay right here and I'll be right back!" And then Kamatari was off muttering something about a necklace to match Kaoru's silver cross earrings and how the shoes matched the dress too perfectly to be true.

Kaoru pulled the wrap snug around her shoulders. She was feeling the effects of the air-conditioning acutely in her light dress. She glanced down at her watch. Fifteen minutes left. Her eyes turned to Ken, who was leaning back in his chair, seemingly exhausted.

"Come on, is Kamatari really that bad?" Kaoru laughed, walking a few steps to stand in front of Ken.

"No. What makes you say that?"

Kaoru laughed some more. "You."

Ken glared at her.

"Come on, Kenshin, stand up. I want you to look at us in the mirror, to make sure we go together."

"Kaoru," Ken warned, glancing uneasily around, but no other shoppers were within view of the mirror, and none of the department cameras focused on the mirror as far as he could tell.

"Oh come on, just for a second," Kaoru wheedled.

And so Ken came to be standing in front of a full-length mirror for perhaps the first time in his life. He didn't know what Kaoru saw, but all he saw was her, holding the arm of an attractive man, if he didn't say so himself. She stood barefoot in a dress that amplified her breasts, he meant best, features.

"Well?" Kaoru asked.

"I'd say we go together," Ken replied. Maybe his gut feeling had been wrong just this one time.

It wasn't until Kamatari was walking with them through the parking lot, Kaoru in her finery and Ken in his suit, that Kamatari spoke of the coincidence of their meeting.

"I'm actually in L.A. on business. The Juppongatana informed me you'd probably be stopping at a mall, I simply chose that department store as a lucky guess. I've got some information to relay to you, Ken-nii," Kamatari began as he handed the bags with their old clothes to Ken, who placed them in the trunk of the car.

"What?" Ken asked intently, turning to the cross-dresser.

"Since you left New York the Sekihoutai and the Oniwaban have merged forces, thanks to Katsu. The Sekihoutai sent me to L.A. to check out the situation with the dark one. I've already reported back. Soon the two groups will officially ally with the Juppongatana. The Shinomoris will be here in three hours. You're expected to meet with them at Juppongatana headquarters. Misao has requested Kao-nii-chan be present as well. Just giving you a heads up. Myojin expects to surprise you with the news."

"Thanks."

"No problem, Ken-nii. Well, I'll be headed back to New York soon. A word of warning: I've been getting strange reports as far as Sanosuke Sagara is concerned. I know you two were close. Be cautious."

"Strange reports," Kaoru broke in. "Can't you be more specific?"

"Sorry Kao-nii-chan, I can't betray the Sekihoutai. Now you two have a good time at the symphony and I'll see you when you get back to the east coast, you hear? I've got to catch a flight I'm afraid."

Ken would have argued if at that moment, Kamatari hadn't thrown himself into his arms and hugged him. Again. "Be careful, Ken-nii. And take care of Kaoru." Then Kamatari did the unthinkable: he kissed Ken on the cheek, hugged Kaoru briefly and disappeared into the mall.

When Ken came out of the shock of being kissed by another man, he began rubbing furiously at the side of his face. Kaoru looked on, trying not to laugh in spite of the gravity of the unusual information they'd just heard.

"What's wrong with you, Kenshin?"

Ken blinked at her in disbelief. How could she not know what was wrong? "He just kissed me."

"Poor baby. Can you still drive?" Kaoru asked.

Ken glared at her again.

Kaoru was glad he wasn't glaring at her so much as he was using her to glare at Kamatari.

"You must not understand. I've just been kissed by a man. I'm never going to live this down. You're going to tell Saitou," Ken accused, stomping around to the driver's side of the car.

"I'm not going to tell Saitou anything," Kaoru retorted, stomping around to the front passenger door. It was locked. "You better let me in this car, Kenshin!" It was still locked. "Kenshin!" Still locked. "Misao's going to kill you if I'm not there tomorrow! And when you try to defend yourself from her, Aoshi will kill you too!" The door lock came up.

Kaoru opened the door, climbed in, and shut it, all the while glaring at Ken. "I can't believe you did that! You just left me standing outside of the car! What if some vampire came along who's working for the wrong people and…"

Ken tuned out her tirade. There was something about Kamatari that made him irrational. But there was no way he would have left Kaoru stranded in a mall parking lot. She had to realize that at least, making the reason she was yelling at him illegitimate, hence the reason why he wasn't listening to her.

Until she punched him.

"Why did you do that?" Ken asked as if it was all her fault and she was the one being totally irrational.

Kaoru was breathing hard and clearly frustrated. "Because you weren't listening to me! You haven't been listening to me all night! Not really! I don't understand how things can be perfectly fine yesterday, and then I wake up and they're muddled again!"

Ken sighed. How had Kaoru managed to get to the real problem already? He'd been hoping to put it off until the whole mess with the dark one was over. "You're the problem, Kaoru. I need to know what you think about me."

"What do you mean, what I think about you? Don't you already know?"

"I mean, about what I have to do to survive. Feeding. You've acted different ever since then."

Kaoru swallowed visibly. "Have I acted different?"

"You're tense, nervous, irritable. You don't want to talk about anything related to vampires, which is hard, considering what I am. You try to play me off and act like everything's light and happy. Well it isn't Kaoru. We're about to go meet with the Juppongatana, the vampires who would have killed you if I hadn't brought about Tomoe's death, and we'll be talking about the dark one, who wants to kill us all. So why are you acting so fake? You should be worried out of your mind right now."

Through out his speech, the frustration in her eyes had died a little, until only a small amount remained. Kaoru sighed, but didn't look away from him.

"You're right, Kenshin. I am nervous. I haven't been able to relax all day." She paused. "It was a big thing for me, seeing you feed. I don't think I believed you did until I saw it for myself." She shifted in her seat. "You know when you're young and you don't believe you can die? I mean, you know it in your head, but you don't actually believe it? Well that's how it was with you. I knew you were a vampire in my head, but I just couldn't believe it, because it's so unfair and it makes things so much harder."

Now she did look away from him to stare in front of her. "Before tonight, it was like a fairy tale story, one I'd been pulled into arbitrarily. You know, not really real. I hadn't even thought about vampires since I was a kid, except maybe on Halloween. Finding out the truth, that they do exist, it's made me reevaluate all those cheesy vampire stories I ever read to compare them with you and Saitou and Aoshi and all the other vampires I've met."

She turned back to face him. "I never, ever want to become a vampire, Kenshin. Never. I'd rather die. Then why do I feel like I need you so much? It's kind of funny, Kamatari talking about weddings."

So that was what was on her mind. She'd realized what she should have realized back in New York City. Kaoru was a puzzle. Ken had forgotten what it was to be young a long time ago.

Ken couldn't think of much to comfort her. "Things between us aren't muddled," he managed.

"But you haven't even kissed me all night," Kaoru insisted, hating herself for uttering a statement that sounded so pathetic, but needing to say it just the same.

Ken couldn't help but smile. "I'm sorry. Come here."

A kiss turned out to be what they both needed. Yes, being kissed by Kaoru was substantially better than being kissed by Kamatari, infinitely better in fact.

Then Ken's watch alarm beeped.

"Damn it," he swore. Always the watch alarm had to mess things up.

"Are we going to be late?"

"No, we can make it if we leave now."

"Okay." Kaoru smiled at him as she strapped in.

Ken smiled back. He probably looked like Dopey, the dumbest of the seven dwarfs. Then he remembered they had box seats, and that the Juppongatana party wasn't coming until an hour into the symphony, so he would be alone with Kaoru for an hour in total privacy. No one except the artists on the stage would be able to see them, and they'd be far too busy playing symphony music. Score for Kenshin Himura.

**A/N – Hope you enjoyed. Once again, happy holidays and thanks for reading.**

**Aryanne**

**(Sorry about the edit again. If you didn't notice, I made a mistake when Ken talks to Kaoru about vampires and mirrors. Also, the Shinomoris are due to arrive in LA in 3 hours, NOT 24, in an effort to speed up the pace of the story. Sorry!)  
**


	21. Come Together

**A/N – Happy New Year everyone!**

**-**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**-**

**Silver Cross**

**-**

**Chapter 21 – Come Together**

**-**

_You know, I didn't figure nail files were much use for anything besides breaking out of jail, but they do come in pretty handy for your nails.  
You just realized this?__  
Hey, at least I'm not the one who just found out why pinstripe pants are called pinstripe pants._

-

"Are you going to at least tell me why you bought me a suit?" Sou asked. He had become a little bolder around the three vampires. He knew he had to be wary around Saitou, but since Saitou was currently driving he wasn't much threat to Sou as long as he had plenty of L.A. motorists to swear at. The vampire seemed to be possessed by a severe case of road rage.

"We're meeting the Battousai in a public place. A suit is just part of blending in," the Juppongatana's leader replied from the front passenger seat. "Don't think about trying to get away in the crowd. Aside from creating a very big scene, you might give away our position to the dark one. I'm sure you know that wouldn't result in a favorable outcome for yourself."

Sou knew this was true. His uncle had even bothered to warn him not to attract the dark one's notice before he'd sent him to the Juppongatana. "The way all of you speak of the dark one it's as if you're paranoid. Is he really so powerful and almighty that he's watching over our shoulders every moment?"

"Soujiro," Tsubame started from the seat next to him, "the dark one is not to be trifled with unless you want to put all our lives in danger. Remember who you're traveling with, the top three members of the Juppongatana, the organization the dark one seeks to crush. If you're found in our company the dark one will not hesitate to crush you as well."

"But how could he possibly know where we are?" Sou argued, sure the vampires were blowing this whole 'dark one' situation a little out of proportion. "He can't have a million guards who stay posted at every possible public place. If he's gathering his men for a fight, why would he bother posting them there? Even if he did, how could they tell you were vampires? Hell, I couldn't even tell the first time I saw you. You look human."

"Soujiro," Tsubame said softly from beneath her bangs, "the dark one is neither human, nor vampire. It simply uses the two species against each other in an attempt to enslave us all. Its spies are numerous, so please don't act out of hand when we reach the symphony. Three men and a woman are a slightly unusual party to attend a symphony in the first place. None of us wish undue attention brought to the party."

Sou agreed with that reasoning. "I still don't understand how the dark one could get wind of our meeting."

"Traitors, kid," Myojin put in from directly in front of Sou. "I have no doubt a few exist within the Juppongatana, which is more than enough reason for you to stay on your guard. You won't have much to worry about with Tsubame watching over you, but all the same, don't be a dumbass."

"What did the dark one do make everyone so afraid?" Sou asked. He'd been wondering ever since he'd first heard of 'it', as everyone seemed to say when they spoke of the dark one.

"Have you ever read Harry Potter, kid?" Myojin asked.

Why bring up Harry Potter at a time like this? Maybe Saitou's road rage had started to tell on Myojin's sanity. Sou had chosen to ignore the close calls Saitou fumbled through, but it must be marginally harder for Myojin from his position in the front seat.

"No," Sou answered.

"Me either, but the lovely wife here made me see the movie with her."

Sou glanced at Tsubame, who smiled affectionately at her husband. Sou still wasn't used to that.

"Kaoru made me see it with her younger cousins," Sou confessed. There wasn't much use lying to a trio of vampires about whether he'd seen a movie or not.

"Remember who the bad guy was?"

Sou nodded. "Lord Voldemort."

"Yeah, but every one of the wizards called him 'He-who-must-not-be-named'. That's basically the dark one's rep around here. It's brainwashed a lot of vampires as well as turned many humans into vampires and bound them to him. It's also taken out two vampire groups in big cities and many influential vampire leaders all at once in a big fiasco about ten years ago. Have you ever heard of the Inshinshishi?"

"No," Sou replied, only he got the feeling he was lying. "Wait… wasn't that the international company that went bankrupt a few years back? I remember it made the news."

"Yeah. Only the bankruptcy was a cover-up by the dark one. The truth is all its members are dead. The dark one destroyed every vampire associated with the group. It almost did the same to another group called the Sekihoutai. Only a few of its most clever members are alive today. As a result, the dark one has two major cities under its control, as well as many small pockets of towns and suburbs here and there. Now the dark one has come to L.A. to do the same to my people."

Between the two of them, the Myojins had just given Sou the most information anyone had ever told him about this dark one who seemed to be everyone's common enemy. Sou couldn't help but be a little grateful to them for revealing so much, although it was probably common knowledge in the vampire world.

"What did you mean when you said the dark one bound people to him?" Sou asked, deciding to fish for as much information as he could get.

"It's a tattoo on the underside of the wrist," Tsubame explained, holding her left wrist out to Sou. "The tattoo is a black dagger stabbing a red heart dripping black blood."

"The dark one sounds a little melodramatic," Sou commented with raised eyebrows.

Saitou let out a noise somewhere between a laugh and a smoker's cough, but remained silent.

Tsubame smiled gently, as if humoring him. "Yes, but if you ever come across a vampire with one of those marks, you'll do well to stay away. The marks can't be forged, so there's no mistaking a person who works for the dark one."

Sou nodded, turning over this new information in his mind. "So why are the hunters scared of the dark one if it only goes after vampires?"

"The dark one is quite proficient at turning humans into vampires," Tsubame reminded him.

"And there's also the fact that humans are next once the vampire species is conquered," Myojin added. "Unlike your average vampire, the dark one's brood is out to corrupt and kill as many humans as possible as long as they get a kick out of it. Many of my people have died protecting humans from the dark one."

"Sure you're not telling the kid too much," Saitou commented.

"Shishio wants to keep him in the dark. I enjoy foiling that man's plans, even in the smallest way," Myojin replied idly. "Ten minutes until we arrive, Seta."

_- _

_Yellow number six, blue number nine, red number forty. What do all these colors mean?  
I don't know. Some kind of preservative maybe?__  
Food tastes a lot nastier then it used to when we were human.__  
You don't have to eat food you know.__  
I know. It just reminds me of the good old days I guess._

-

Kaoru sighed, feeling almost satisfied as she snuggled closer to Ken with eyes closed, savoring the music of the orchestra.

"Enjoying yourself?" Ken asked the woman safely ensconced in his arms.

"Yeah," Kaoru whispered, "At least until Myojin gets here. That man grates on my nerves."

Ken chuckled in her ear. "I like him."

"I didn't say you couldn't like him," Kaoru replied, opening her eyes to focus on the orchestra below them from their booth. "I just said he gets on my nerves."

"You'll like his wife."

"She's coming too? I thought you said this was research. How is meeting with the Juppongatana again helping us," Kaoru asked, not able to keep a tiny pout from her voice.

"It's an emergency meeting," Ken murmured, "Myojin said he needed both of us in person when you were asleep before we left. This is only the start of our Saturday night. I promise it will be more eventful soon."

"Fine, but I don't know how fast I can run in these shoes," Kaoru confessed. "I should have made Kamatari pick out a more sensible pair."

"If you need to, you'll run fast enough."

"I guess you're right," Kaoru agreed, although she was fast growing tired of running. All the running had started to undermine her self confidence. She hadn't felt truly capable since she'd punched Hiko. Kaoru took the pleasure of reliving the moment for a few seconds.

Ken's right leg was starting to go numb.

"Sorry!" Kaoru breathed, somehow understanding his dilemma and sliding from his arms to sit on the plush leather seat with Ken's arm around her shoulders.

A girl couldn't ask for a more romantic date: orchestra music, a beautiful dress, a hot guy who actually dressed with a bit of class. Yup, this was the life. Too bad they weren't actually on a date. Ken would have to take her somewhere danger free one of these days. But it wouldn't hurt if she just put aside the darker reasons for them being there and acted as if it was a harmless date, now would it? Nope. Thus decided, Kaoru also decided she could afford to forget the propriety her parents had taught her, and which had never gotten her anywhere as long as Ken was around anyway. So she pulled her dress up so she could actually move a little, directed her date's gaze from the orchestra to her, and kissed him. Intensely.

Ken found he was not one to pass up the chance for a make-out session with Kaoru, even with Myojin liable to pop in at any moment. Whatever perfume Kamatari had spritzed on her only added to her allure. Maybe he owed the gay cross-dresser something after all.

"We have to do this again when we're both not under pressure," Kaoru murmured.

"How about tonight?"

Kaoru laughed. "No, I mean the symphony, not the other stuff."

"You don't want to do the 'other stuff'?" Ken teased. He didn't miss Kaoru's blush in the dark, or the way her heartbeat sped up. "Don't you want to?"

"Shut up," Kaoru admonished in an embarrassed tone.

"You want me to force you to admit it?" Ken half-threatened.

"Don't make me scream in the middle of the symphony!" Kaoru warned. Knowing Ken, he probably would, despite his warning that they should blend in as much as possible.

"Battousai."

Quicker than Kaoru could process Ken had them both standing, facing the door to the booth.

"Ms. Kamiya," Myojin nodded to her. Kaoru supposed he considered that a greeting. "Hopefully this won't take up much of our time."

"Who else is here with you?" Ken asked, sensing the ki of two other vampires and a human hovering immediately outside the door.

"My wife, Saitou, and Seta Soujiro. I entered first to prepare you for Seta, Ms. Kamiya. I trust you both will restrain yourselves around him," Yahiko remarked casually.

All of a sudden Ken's arm around her waist felt like a chain of guilt. Kaoru had managed to put Sou from her mind, considering the other stress she had to deal with, but now he'd be thrown in her face a little sooner then she had planned after the horrible confrontation on the beach.

"Why is Seta with you?" Ken asked.

"His uncle traded him in as a token of the hunter-Juppongatana alliance," Myojin informed him casually.

"What the hell!" Ken exclaimed. "They'll betray you!"

Kaoru winced. At least he'd exploded during the loud climax of the current song the orchestra was playing. No one in the audience below seemed to have noticed. "I think we should talk in the hall," Kaoru put in.

"Fair enough," Myojin nodded, turning to exit the booth, "No one will hear us there."

"Why are you so mad he's joined with the hunters?" Kaoru asked in a whisper.

"I'll tell you later," Ken replied, releasing her waist.

Kaoru could tell he was too intent on getting down to the reason Myojin had decided to ally with the hunters to explain anything. She watched him walk through the doorway with no hesitation and followed him after taking a deep breath. Eyes downcast, she shut the door quietly behind her. She had a sneaking suspicion that the first eyes she would see when she looked up would be Soujiro's.

It sucked being right all the time.

He stood between Saitou and a petite brown-haired woman about Kaoru's height. The last time she'd seen him, Sou had said some hurtful things to her. Kaoru wasn't about to forget being called a whore by her former boyfriend anytime soon, but she couldn't let go of the fact that the whole scene had been her fault in the first place. And it wasn't like Kaoru could simply stand there and let the awkward moment play out. If an outsider happened to mosey along down the hallway, she had to keep up appearances, despite the fact that she really didn't feel like being within five miles of Soujiro.

"Hi, Sou," Kaoru offered somewhat tentatively. She hated to seem uncertain, but after all was said and done Sou's opinion remained important to her. She didn't want him to condemn her relationship with Ken.

"Hi, Kaoru. I'm relieved to see you're alright."

"I'm inclined to give Shishio the benefit of doubt since he's handed his nephew over to me." Myojin was addressing Ken. "It's unfortunate you don't agree, Battousai."

And that was that. Myojin broke the moment and Kaoru didn't have to deal with the stress of talking to Soujiro again, at least for the moment.

"You know as well as I do Shishio has never cared for anyone but himself. He's using Seta to lull your senses," Ken argued.

Sou tore his eyes from Kaoru at the sound of his name. He hadn't paid much attention to the Battousai when he'd had the fight with Kaoru on the beach. Now, since he was being completely ignored for all intents and purposes, he took the man in. The vampire was taller than Sou, but that wasn't saying much, since a lot of men were taller than Sou. Like Sou, his slim frame was decked out presentably in a suit. What a laugh that would have been if the 'Battousai' had been unfit and out-of-shape. Unfortunately for Sou he appeared to be in the peak of physical health, however healthy you could get being technically not alive. His hair was red, surprisingly enough. Sou hadn't come across too many Japanese people with red hair, but the Battousai's racial origin couldn't be denied. His hair up in a high ponytail would have made him seem a bit fruity if it wasn't for the strong and clearly masculine ki he Sou could sense within the vampire.

Saitou laughed, jolting Sou from his evaluation of the vampire Kaoru had dumped him for. "For once, we agree."

Ken's blue-eyed gaze flashed to Saitou. "I wasn't speaking to you."

The woman, who Kaoru now recognized from the time she'd been kidnapped, stepped between Ken and Saitou. "Come now, Battousai. I would like to carry out this conversation discreetly. Perhaps it would be best if I did the talking."

Ken glared at Saitou a moment longer, then nodded and backed down. "I take it I'm not going to like what you're going to say."

"There's good and bad," Tsubame acknowledged. She took a deep breath. "I need to borrow Ms. Kamiya."

Kaoru almost jumped. "What?"

"You're not taking her anywhere," Ken told Tsubame, shifting so he stood slightly in front of Kaoru. Sou didn't miss the vampire's almost unconscious gesture to protect Kaoru. Kaoru seemed startled, both at the news that the Juppongatana wanted to borrow her, and at the Battousai suddenly blocking her from the rest of the group. Her eyes were on the back of his head, as if she could tell what he was thinking if she stared hard enough. Kaoru seemed more concerned with the Battousai's reaction, Sou noted.

"Don't decide so quickly," Myojin rolled his eyes. "At least hear what my wife has to say."

"It's only for a few hours," Tsubame continued, shifting her gaze from Kaoru to Ken. "Ayame needs a favor. Her niece was taken by the dark one's men the previous evening. We just came across the girl's location an hour before dawn last night. Naturally, nothing could be done at the time. I need Ms. Kamiya and Seta to go in and get her out. She'll be in the custody of humans for the next two hours. If she's not rescued, after that she'll be turned and bound to the dark one. You both know it will be too late to save her then. We need to rescue her, or Ayame will not lend her support in the fight against the dark one. She refuses to fight her niece." Tsubame made eye contact with Kaoru. "We've got a safe-house prepared already. Once Seta and Ms. Kamiya smuggle the girl out I'll be there in a getaway car, ready to take the girl and Seta to that safe-house and Ms. Kamiya to wherever she specifies. Will you help us?"

"I'll do it," Kaoru stated firmly, stepping from behind Ken. "If I have the opportunity to save someone's life, I will certainly take it." This was just what she needed to stop feeling useless.

"Wait," Ken commanded, holding out an arm to prevent her from advancing.

Kaoru thought better of arguing.

"You wouldn't have asked me this if you didn't have something to give in return. What is it?"

Myojin laughed. "Nice attempt at tricking him, Tsubame." His voice grew serious. "We've got the time and place where Tsukayama Yutaro, an ex-Juppongatana member, will be. Ken, you get to interrogate him. Personally, I'd rather you kill him afterwards. He's been responsible for the deaths of three loyal vampires and the binding of five humans to the dark one so far. He works closely with Anji."

Kaoru glanced sideways at Ken. His eyes were narrowed. He did not look happy.

"Your decision," Myojin finished.

"This is great," Kaoru told Ken with a smile that took only a little effort to generate. "I'll go help rescue Ayame's niece while you get closer to figuring out what's going on with the dark one."

"Kaoru-," Ken started in protest, his eyes wide with worry and misgivings as he turned to her.

"Isn't Anji the monk responsible for Sano's death? This is your chance to get him. I know you want to. Why not take the opportunity?"

"I can't trust you to the Juppongatana."

"Ken, it's for Ayame, you know, your friend, the woman who hates me. She'll never forgive you if you didn't let me go. Who knows? Maybe she'll actually like me a little after this."

"Kaoru, I can't trade you for a chance to get to Anji," Ken told her flatly.

"It's not your choice, it's our choice. I want to go. I don't want another death on my conscience, Ken. It's hard enough living with Tomoe's memory. I'm fully capable of protecting myself from a bunch of humans. Are you going to see reason and let me go?"

Ken shook his head slowly. "Kaoru, a vampire could come to check up on the girl at any time. And it's not safe."

Kaoru leaned in close so at least Sou couldn't hear. The three other vampires would probably be able to no matter what she did. "I need to make up with Sou too, Kenshin. I can't let our relationship end like that. I need closure. This is the perfect opportunity for me to talk with him." He was still hesitant. "Come on, this is the best thing we've got going for us right now. I'm not letting that girl die, Kenshin."

Ken sighed. "I wouldn't let you do this alone if Kamatari didn't warn me something was off with Sano," he encircled his arms around her waist. "I trust Tsubame to get you out if anything goes wrong, if something does I'm going to kill Saitou first."

"Thanks, Kenshin," Kaoru breathed, sliding her arms around his neck and hugging him with all her might. "Good luck with this Tsukayama guy," she said as they broke apart. "Myojin seems pretty disgusted with him. Have you met him?"

"No," Ken replied.

"I take it this means you've convinced the Battousai to do what you want him to," Saitou commented dryly.

Sou couldn't help but be grateful to the caustic vampire for breaking up the moment between the Battousai and his girlfriend. Okay, so she was his ex-girlfriend, but it hadn't even been a week yet. Who could blame him for still thinking of her as his?

Kaoru chose to ignore Saitou. "How are we getting there, Ms. Myojin?"

"Please, call me Tsubame. We'll take Saitou's car."

"You can't use my baby as a getaway car!" Saitou spluttered, almost spitting out his cigarette. Kaoru was pretty sure the building had a no smoking policy.

Tsubame grinned at him and pulled a set of car keys from her purse. "I'm afraid Yahiko's pickpocket skills have rubbed off on me over the years. I'll pay you back the gas money later, Saitou. Let's go, Ms. Kamiya, Soujiro. We're running out of time to save the girl." Tsubame turned and walked away with Sou on her heels.

Kaoru smiled at Ken before striding after them. "See ya," she called over her shoulder. Kaoru was careful not to look back. Ken might change his mind about letting her go at the last moment. Or she might lose her nerve. But that wasn't likely. She was Kaoru Kamiya after all, master of the Kamiya Kasshin style of swordsmanship, and she was headed off to save a human life with her ex-boyfriend and a vampire in tow. She could so handle this.

_- _

_How can this be food? It's just a metal can.  
I bought it at a store. It was the only meal we could afford.__  
But-__  
You said you've got a craving for human food. So figure out how to open it.__  
The only way I can think of is to use my teeth.__  
The woman at the store said something about a can opener.__  
Did you buy me one?__  
How am I supposed to know what a can opener looks like?_

-

"Question, how'd they convince her to go with them?"

"They're her friends," Tsubame answered. "That's why the dark one recruited them."

"Her friends are going to betray her to the dark one?" Kaoru asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"The usual: money. From our information, these three young men have fallen on hard times."

"Why this particular girl?" Sou asked from the front passenger seat.

"You've never met her aunt, Soujiro. The woman's influence is powerful."

"He's eliminating your allies, one by one," Kaoru commented. "Clever, but not original. That's what the bad guys do in the movies all the time."

Tsubame favored her with a sharp glare. "This isn't the movies or television. The girl will die and become a vampire if you two don't save her. We're almost there. I'll drop you off and circle the block until you come out with the girl. If you don't see the car when you come out start walking east down the street until I pick you up. I can't go in there and save you. The place is holy. Vampires cannot enter. You both know what to do."

"Yes, Tsubame," Soujiro affirmed.

"Alright," Tsubame nodded. "I'll give you twenty minutes before I assume you've failed and drive away. I don't need the dark one after my ass."

Kaoru blinked in surprise. For a relatively small, diminutive woman, the female Myojin was uncommonly tough. Hadn't she heard something about short people always having something to prove and that was why they were so in-your-face? Kaoru smiled wryly. That was probably what was wrong with her.

Tsubame pulled over to the right side of the road and into a parking spot in a residential neighborhood. "Get out quickly. Sou, open the door for Kaoru to keep up appearances. The house you want is number 2788."

Sou did as she asked, opening his door and stepping out onto the curb with the brown grocery bag in hand. His eyes met Tsubame's briefly as he shut the car door before he opened the back to let Kaoru out. She kept her eyes downcast until Tsubame hissed a command Sou didn't hear. She looked up as Sou caught a flicker of annoyance, presumably at Tsubame's expense, pass through her eyes. Her expression settled into resignation. He fought the urge to laugh as she walked past him and he shut the door behind her. They stood there for a moment until Tsubame sped away into traffic.

Kaoru gazed down the street, acting as if she was searching for house number 2788, but Soujiro knew better. She was feeling uneasy. She didn't want to look at him for fear she'd see the hurt look in his eyes and feel guilty. It looked like he had to be the one to act as if nothing had happened and break the ice. If they weren't comfortable trusting each other now, there was no way they'd be able to pull off a rescue effort.

"Kaoru, you've got to at least act like I'm your brother," Soujiro offered.

She turned to him, recognizing the peace offering. "Older or younger brother?"

Sou realized she'd take offense if he said older, since that would mean he had the rights to boss her around. On the other hand, he didn't particularly feel like letting her boss him around. "Twin." Sou answered, starting the walk down the street to row-house number 2788.

"I guess that works," Kaoru agreed, starting the walk as well. "And how did we decide to explain the opera clothes?"

"We were on a double date. Mother doesn't approve of you and Ken."

"Low blow, Sou." Kaoru attempted to comment flippantly, but she couldn't keep the hurt tone from her voice.

"Sorry. Now's not the time," Sou muttered, spotting number 2788. He stopped at the head of the walkway, which extended for twenty feet until it reached the house. "You first."

Kaoru refused to think about anything more than this great acting performance in front of her as she walked down the cement path. She'd never taken drama lessons. People had always been able to read her emotions easily. This was going to be a challenge. It was best to chuck Tsubame's warning words and do it like some undercover television spy would, not Kaoru Kamiya. When she judged she'd reached a point where whoever was watching out the left window of the row-house could read her expression, she took on what she hoped was a hurried countenance.

"Sean, if they messed things up it's your fault," Kaoru said crossly to her twin over her shoulder.

"Don't blame me. It's because you're so slow in those heels," Sou retorted mildly, trying his best to act as if they had insulted each other back and forth every day of their lives. "Why'd you wear them anyway? They look horrible."

"What did you expect me to wear, flip flops with this dress?" Kaoru shot back as she rapped on the door with the door knocker. "Now don't mess this up or we're not getting paid."

The door opened an inch. A blue eye glared at her. "What do you want?"

"We were sent as extra protection for the girl. Someone is on to you," Kaoru told him flatly.

"I wasn't informed of this."

Kaoru didn't bother to react to his statement. "He told me you'd say that. The girl's name is Suzume. Pick up is in another forty-five minutes. I'd hate for you to lose her this close to the completion of your arrangement with the dark one."

The door opened a little wider. "Who's that?"

"I'm her brother, you idiot," Soujiro scoffed. "I can't be expected to let my sister do this alone. My mother'd kill me."

"What's in the bag?"

Sou grinned. "A bit of alcohol to get the blood flowin'. Let us in. You're risking us being noticed as out of the ordinary visitors."

The man scoffed and opened the door wide. "Fine. Trevor, Ben, we've got backup."

Two young men playing cards in the living room waved to Kaoru as she entered. "I like backup," one of the men stated, nudging his buddy.

"Hey, don't mess with my sister," Soujiro glowered from behind Kaoru as he entered. That had been close. He's almost said girlfriend.

Kaoru tossed her head. "I can take care of myself, Sean." She fought back the desire to drop the whole plan and run as she heard the man who'd answered the door shutting and locking it. A bolt slid into place.

"Yeah, whatever," Soujiro muttered, half his resentment a little too real. He needed to get over his anger with Kaoru. It wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Mind if I join you two," Soujiro asked, pulling a bottle of bourbon half out of the grocery bag.

Their eyes lit. "Come on over. How about a few games of poker?"

"Don't drink too much," the man who'd answered the door cautioned.

"Jake, we've got backup, we're sitting in a freakin' priest's house, and there're only forty-five minutes left until the deal's official. We're in the clear, man," Trevor or Ben stated from the couch.

Jake sighed, watching as Soujiro made his way over to the two men on the couch. "I guess you're right. I'm going to check on Suzume one more time."

Kaoru placed a hand on his arm. "Let me come with you," she leaned towards him confidentially. "I have some details to discuss with you after you've checked on her."

Jake looked tired. He nodded. "Fine. Follow me."

Kaoru took a deep breath as she followed him up the carpeted stairs from the main room. It looked like the plan was working so far. Too bad they hadn't come to the tricky part yet. She'd have to wait until they were downstairs to try anything or else Trevor and Ben would hear through the ceiling.

Jake paused outside a door to look at her thoughtfully. Kaoru willed herself not to start sweating.

"I didn't catch your name, or your brother's."

"He's Sean and I'm Amy."

"Last name?"

Kaoru smiled. "I think it would be best for all of us if we didn't get in to last names tonight. Is this the room she's in?"

Jake stared at her a moment before nodding and turning to the door. He withdrew a key from his left pants pocket. "Yeah. She's sedated, handcuffed to the bed, and gagged. I didn't want to be too harsh on her. We were friends once."

Kaoru nodded as she watched him unlock the door and place the key back in his pants pocket. "Understandable. This is your first time working for him?"

"First and last. We figure we're headed for Mexico after this. We'll be okay with the money." He opened the door and motioned for her to walk in before him.

_- _

_You know how I got hit by a car the other night?  
Yeah. You should be fine by now. Nothing's wrong is it?__  
No, no. I was just wondering if I could sue.__  
I think the defendant's lawyer would dig into your past and find out you have no past. Might get a little sticky for you.__  
Eh, the lawyer might not.__  
Yeah, but aren't trials during daylight hours?__  
I could say I have xeroderma pigmentosa.__  
Sounds like a lot of hassle.__  
Yeah, it might be interesting though. I've never been in court before.__  
Trials can take years.__  
Years?__ Forget it. I don't have time for that kind of shit. He hit me last night! I should get my money by next week. What's wrong with the justice system? What's up with this country when little immigrant girls are hit by cars and no one cares? What's up with country when the middle class can't even afford a movie ticket? What's up with a country that falls apart because the stock market crashed?__  
I didn't know you cared.__  
Hell yeah. I want my money._

-

Here he was, watching a back alley from the roof of one of Los Angeles's most profitable bars. Ken swore to God that if Tsukayama didn't show and he'd let Kaoru risk her life for nothing he was going to slice Myojin's head off himself, as well as Saitou's. He'd been waiting half an hour and no one had exited through the bar's back door except three off-duty waitresses for a smoke. If the hired help used the back entrance he'd have to be quick to transfer Tsukayama to another location once the man actually showed up.

If he showed up.

Ken fingered one of seven throwing knives Myojin had leant him for the occasion. He would have felt more comfortable with Shinomori Misao beside him. Her experience with distance weapons surpassed his by a long shot. What he wouldn't give for her kunai skills. But the Shinomoris weren't due to arrive for an hour, and they'd probably be stuck at the airport for another hour smuggling all their weapons through security. No, he couldn't count on Misao to dispatch the thugs no doubt surrounding Tsukayama Yutaro. He couldn't afford to miss.

The door flew open, banging against the brick wall of the back of the building. Two men swaggered out, scanning the dark alley. They didn't bother to look for Ken up on the roof. After a moment one nodded his satisfaction and out followed Tsukayama Yutaro. He was drunk. His steps wavered. His gaze was unsure. He gave the alley nothing more than a cursory glance before training his eyes on the back of one of the vampires in front of him. Two more men came out behind Tsukayama before the iron door shut behind them.

From his perch atop the bar Ken withdrew the first two knives and sent them towards their targets with an extra spin. The rear two vampires did not fall right away, giving him time to withdraw the next two blades just as the two bodyguards in front of Tsukayama were starting to turn. He threw the spinning knives.

Tsukayama wavered on his feet as four vampire heads dropped to the ground around him. By the time the bodies followed Ken had sent another knife whirling towards its last target.

Tsukayama reached into the air, caught it, let the knife sweep him in a three-sixty turn, and hurled it back to Ken.

Ken hadn't expected to hit him, but he hadn't expected his own weapon to be used against him either. Maybe, Ken thought, this might be a challenge.

_- _

_Whatcha__ reading?  
The Diary of Anne Frank.__  
Oh.__  
Sometimes I regret not fighting in World War One and finishing Hitler then._

-

The first thing Kaoru noted was Suzume wasn't really a girl. Kaoru supposed she should have picked up on that, given the age of the girl's 'friends', but she hadn't, and that was that. Suzume was actually a woman, a woman at least a couple years older than Kaoru herself. Even though her body was sedated, clearly, she had at least a few of her wits about her. Her eyes expressed anger with a healthy lacing of fear.

Although her heart went out to the woman, Kaoru didn't dare cast her even one sympathetic glance. She merely nodded. "You've done a good job with her, Jake." Kaoru walked closer, inspecting not the woman, but the way she was bound to the bed. "Handcuffs are a bit cliché, but you've made them work for you. I trust the key is in a safe, but easily accessible place in case of emergency?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

He nodded grimly. "Of course."

"And you'll sedate her again before we take her out of here, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Is there any place I can discuss a private matter with you?"

"We could talk right here. Suzume's not going to tell anyone."

Kaoru shook her head. "It needs to be downstairs so I can be of assistance in case of attack." Kaoru could only pray Sou hadn't made his move and disabled Trevor and Ben yet. That would look extremely suspicious, and, judging from what she'd seen so far, Jake was the smart one. There was no way she'd be able to figure out where he kept the handcuff keys before Tsubame abandoned them in twenty minutes. Make that fifteen.

"The kitchen then?" Jake asked, following Kaoru from the room.

"Sounds ideal. Why don't you leave the door unlocked to taunt her a bit," Kaoru suggested, wondering if a normal crooked twenty year old woman would say that. She decided it had probably been a valid thing to say, since she might very well still be bitter at the shortening of her double date.

"You're crazy! What if she escapes?"

"She's not going to escape! You put the handcuffs on yourself." She turned to face him. "We need easy access to her, and it won't hurt if she's too angry to think straight. Leave it unlocked." Kaoru wished she possessed some of that hypnotizing stare Misao had used on her that first night in New York City. Maybe a little had rubbed off on her, because Jake nodded and followed her when she turned to head down the stairs.

Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Sou playing cards with a still conscious Trevor and Ben. He was getting along with them so well she would've thought him a traitor if she hadn't been sure where his loyalties lay. Come to think of it, she didn't really know what Soujiro thought about this whole thing, but she knew he wouldn't betray them to the dark one. Soujiro was too smart to act that dumb.

"Is everything okay?" Kaoru asked the card playing trio once she'd reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Just fine, Amy," Soujiro replied, doing his best to glance up casually from his hand. He watched for a moment as she followed Jake into the kitchen. She'd do her part while he did his. Time to break out the alcohol. He didn't feel guilty doing it either. He'd only met Trevor and Ben five minutes ago and even though he still didn't know which was which, he knew already he wasn't going to have any qualms poisoning either of the two men. Suzume must not have been the world's greatest judge of character to choose these two men as friends.

Soujiro took a gulp from one of the bottles he'd placed on the table. Thankfully, he could hold his alcohol well. "Don't let me drink alone, guys. Have a swallow, Ben," Sou encouraged with a gesture to the other bottle. Ben, at least he thought it was Ben, had been eyeing the two bourbon bottles the moment Sou had revealed them to the two card players. Judging from his ruddy skin and his current crappy card playing, he was probably an alcoholic dying for a drink.

"Thought you'd never offer," the man Soujiro finally knew was Ben agreed readily enough, grabbing the neck of the bottle, popping the cap off and chugging for all he was worth.

Soujiro winced. "You sure can put it back," he commented a little uneasily. Just as long as Ben didn't drink all the alcohol everything was fine.

Trevor smirked. "Don't worry about him, Sean. Now stop being greedy and let me have a swig before you down the whole bottle," Trevor commanded, wrenching the bottle from Ben's grasp and chugging down what was left of the bottle.

Soujiro tried not to blink incredulously. It was great news for him that the other two young men were a couple of alcoholics, but he was a little worried about the amount they'd consumed. Tsubame had said they only needed to ingest one gulp of bourbon for the poison to take effect. Apparently she hadn't anticipated a couple of wonder-boys who could probably chug a whole bottle of vodka and not feel the burn. Were their throats numb or something? But they didn't look like they were in any danger of dying. In fact, they looked about the same and were now tipsily encouraging him to chug down his whole bottle.

Not knowing what else to do, Soujiro took a long drink to appease them, hoping they'd pass out soon enough.

"Don't hold back, Sean. Yah wimp," Ben murmured before abruptly falling back against the couch and starting to snore.

Trevor looked amazed. "I've never seen him pass out so quickly. He must've been having a drink or two all those times he said he was going to the bathroom." The man's tone held nothing short of wonder as he examined his fallen partner. "How am I going to explain Ben when we take Suzume out?"

"It's my fault," Soujiro amended, close to panic, since Trevor wasn't showing any signs of passing out. "I gave him the bourbon, I'll take the fall."

"Thanks, man. That's awful noble of ya," Trevor replied, just before his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed on top of Ben.

Soujiro smiled. The hard part was over. He stood up in a hurry, a little too fast he soon found as the world started to swim. Okay, the whole thing about him being able to hold his alcohol had been a lie, but now wasn't the time to get drunk. Deftly, albeit a little unsteadily, Soujiro made his way up the stairs to find, and hopefully free, Suzume.

_- _

_What shaped early African civilizations more than anything else? Trade!  
History test coming up?__Yeah.__  
Earning another degree?__  
Yeah. Did you know the two major divisions of the Indian subcontinent are the __Himalayas__ and the Indus-Ganges plain?__  
What's the Indus-Ganges plain?__  
I don't know!_

-

Dodging lethal weapons hurled towards his neck at speeds greater than sixty miles per hour had never been one of Ken's favorite past times. But there are many things in this world we don't want to do, even though we have to. For Ken, this happened to be one of them. In an ideal world, Ken would have simply stepped to the side or leaned his head sideways, the picture of grace and poise, and avoided the knife. In this world, Ken felt compelled to lunge to the right, a bit ungracefully and completely lacking in poise. He only nearly missed tripping and falling off the roof, and by the time he could afford to look down at Tsukayama Yutaro, the vampire was not longer visible. Judging from his ki though, he was very near, and getting nearer every second. Taking the possibility into account that he might get his head chopped of by leaning over the side of the building and the probability of this very event happening, Ken decided his odds of survival didn't matter as much as extracting information from Tsukayama about Anji.

Lean over he did, in time to spot Tsukayama Yutaro jump up and grasp the bottom of the fire escape Ken had used to get on top of the roof, haul his body up, and begin jogging up the stairs two at a time. The man must have been partial to the body guards Ken had just killed, hence his decision to rush up to meet Ken and take his revenge. Ken shrugged and moved back to the center of the concrete roof, so as to be ready for any surprises Tsukayama might attempt to dish out. If he really wanted to kill the guy he would have waited at the top of the fire escape, but the information his man held was too important.

Apparently the man was too angry for surprises. He simply hopped up on the roof and stood there, catching his breath and glaring at Ken. He wasn't drunk anymore.

"Who are you?" Tsukayama yelled across the roof. "I need to know who you are before I kill you, vampire."

Ken highly doubted that would happen. He was partial to the other way around, himself. After, of course, he got the information he wanted.

"Who are you?" the other vampire asked again.

"I don't believe we've ever met," Ken started warily. "But we do have a mutual acquaintance I'd like you to help me get in touch with."

"Who?" Tsukayama asked, dropping into a crouch.

"Anji."

"I know a few Anji's," Tsukayama shrugged. "Which one are you looking for?"

"The ex-monk."

"I can't tell you. That's classified information."

"I need to know," Ken informed him.

"And I need you to die," Tsukayama shot back, withdrawing a sword from his black trench coat as he stood and fell into a ready stance.

"Why the sword?" Ken asked, drawing his last two knives, one in each hand.

"I find killing with a sword more personal than a hand gun. It also puts me more in touch with my roots in ancient Japan."

So maybe this Yutaro was a little…quirky.

**A/N – **

**Thanks to all the reviewers:**

**animegurl23, Kuroi Tsuki Jyurian, alex, Cluless Girl, Serenity Komoshiro, trunksgirl85, lildevilangel, Iram, Mishorou Mie, starry night blue, Keiko C. Crawford, Videl621, Lisica, Witchitta, hitomi, crasyducky, Annabella5, evilteddybear, HLH, pruningshears, Hitokiri-miao miao, Sasha, Bradybunch4529, seikkyokuka, Hiei's.punk.rocker.girl, kik-ting, ixchen, stoictimer, dolphingirl0113, kotone, Ryu Sachiko Sama, De Lazy Lime, MZ. AMBER EYES, Lyphta, Sailor Tiamat, laku, Hikari-kawaii, Aye, Kamille, kitsune, Zackire, Brittanie Love, kouri, NARGIEGIRL21, Sagitarious Devil, Jupiter's Light**

**Your opinions are very important to me. I'm happy knowing someone is reading my work. Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. Indeed, things seem to be coming to a head. Leave a review and tell me what you thought in the case that you are so inclined.**

**Aryanne**

**(Edit: I did the mirror mistake AGAIN. Why?!!!! Thanks, Videl621. And I accidentally typed in Tsubame instead of Suzume. Oops. Thanks Shannon.)**


	22. Simply Smile

**A/N – Here I am, updating on the last day of my Spring Break. Sorry it took so long.**

**-**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or 24 or Jeep or anything else I forgot to mention.**

**-**

**Silver Cross**

**-**

**Chapter 22 – Simply Smile**

**- **

_This is so great. Look at that group over there. They're all so high they won't remember anything.  
I know your hypnotic skills are bad, but I didn't know they were this bad.  
Hey, it's __Woodstock__. The cops'll never let something like this happen again. I'm not too keen on the music, but the opportunities are out of this world. You going to pick a girl?  
No. Unlike you, I have no problems charming contacts.  
Already had one this week, huh?  
…Yeah.  
Sucka_

_- _

The spy life really wasn't all it's cracked up to be. Kaoru realized this when she found herself in the kitchen, trying to come up with a way to outwit Jake, who turned out to be smarter than she'd hoped. He acted nervous, antsy even, but he sure wasn't dumb. The original plan Tsubame had proposed to her wasn't going to work on this guy, and judging from the way he walked he was quick on his feet, meaning Kaoru would have to do a little inventing. Spontaneity had never been one of her strong points, at least not when it concerned beating a man at least fifty pounds heavier then her senseless. But with a little skill, she might be able to make it work. Who'd have ever known her judo training would turn out so useful when it came to saving humans from the clutches of evil vampires, just in the nick of time?

"So what private matter did you want to discuss?" Jake asked, sitting down at the kitchen counter's only stool.

"You're two friends," Kaoru answered, opting to stand by the door. "Ben is obviously deeply enveloped in the process of getting drunk. What kind of operation are you running when you allow him to drink on the job?" Kaoru asked, deciding to take the forceful approach to improvising.

Jake looked confused. "He's drunk?"

Kaoru shook her head. "You can't tell when your own friend is a little tipsy? Even I recognize the signs."

"Quite frankly, Amy," Jake spoke the name as though he knew it wasn't really hers, "he's only started drinking since we got mixed up in this crap. We'll complete this mission and be out of here soon enough. I don't see how it's any of your business whether he's drunk or not, especially with your brother out there sipping bourbon."

Oops. Kaoru mentally winced. Maybe going on the attack had been a bit of a mistake. Eh, it would have come to that sooner or later.

"Forget about my idiot brother, he's only along to warn me if anything's out of the ordinary. I have complete control over him. As long as I'm around, he'll follow any orders. Now your boys, I don't trust them, and I've been ordered to ensure that this mission is carried out without a hitch."

"This is what you wanted to talk to me about? Why don't you say it to their faces instead of talking about them behind their backs? We're all adults here. I'm sure they can take it."

So, Kaoru concluded, this is the point where I back down and completely change the subject. "That wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about. I just thought I'd mention it. I wanted to warn you that if you think you're done working for the dark one after this, you're wrong. Once you start, you're in. Your life is no longer your own. I just thought I'd give you a heads up."

"No," Jake shook his head. "After this we're going to disappear. We were promised that. The dark one is in debt to us."

Kaoru managed to summon a sarcastic laugh. "Oh please, the dark one could have gotten any number of desperate humans for this job. The organization never needed you three in particular. Look, it's not me who's got you imprisoned. I'm just warning you. How do you think my brother and I got into this mess? One mistake and it was all over. I have to keep him in line or the dark one will have him killed for sure. Then I'm dead. We're trapped until we fail a mission and someone high up decides we're not needed anymore. If that happens, we're still dead. We know too much. Are you ready to accept the same responsibility for your friends here? Watching both of them constantly so they don't mess up and get themselves killed? The dark one doesn't play favorites, and you work with whoever you come in with. If one of them dies or fails a mission, all of you wind up dead."

"Unlike you and your brother, we don't know too much; and it's too late now. I have to believe we can get out of this," Jake said.

"Ben's drunk. You have to get him out too. Knowing my brother, all three of them are out cold by now."

Jake dismissed her words. "You don't know how much Ben can drink. He's not out after only one bottle, and Trevor won't let him drink more than that." He paused. "But if it's necessary, I know I can get myself out."

Kaoru smirked, "What a great friend you are."

"What else am I supposed to do?"

She was starting to wear on him; at least, she hoped so. He looked as if he half believed her, afraid to look her in the eye. Hell, it was probably all true anyway. "You have to get both of them out too. If they're caught, they'll be turned into vampires. Then they'll come after you. The dark one excels at brainwashing."

"How are we supposed to get out then?"

"I'll help you."

Jake turned distrustful eyes to her. "Why?"

"I don't want what happened to my brother and me to happen to you."

He seemed to be evaluating her. Kaoru hoped she passed.

"What's your plan?"

He was still distrustful, but Kaoru was confident she could take him down, so she plunged ahead. "I'll knock you unconscious and take Suzume. They'll discover you all out cold and come after me. I'll be sure to leave a trail so they can get to me easily enough and spin them a story about enemy vampires attacking. They'll believe me. When you wake up, I'd suggest you head off the continent. Give me the keys to Suzume's handcuffs," Kaoru ordered, sure to keep her voice confident and upbeat.

"You're plan is to knock me unconscious and take over my assignment?" Jake asked incredulously.

"I'm going to save you, Jake," Kaoru said, surprised to find out she actually meant it. "Unless you have another plan, this is what we're doing. Now give me the keys."

"Don't be ridiculous. They'll find out and we'll all wind up dead or worse."

"Jake, you can't let them win. That girl up there could throw everything off. There's a lot at stake here. The only way you're going to come out of this alive is to work with me. If you stay with the dark one, the enemy vampires will kill you before you and Trevor and Ben can make it across the border. You won't be safe from either side even if you do make it that far."

"I know, I know," Jake moaned. "I just don't know what to do. It was dumb to let you in. You could be anyone."

"Jake look at me, I'm not a vampire. I'm a double agent for the humans."

"The hunters will kill me too."

"Not the hunters, the human side. Give me the keys, Jake," Kaoru ordered. "You won't get any money from this, but at least you'll escape with your life."

"You know, when they first approached me, I swore Suzume must have done something wrong to warrant this. But I still didn't ask what they'd do with her. A little too much information, you know?" He slid off the stool and walked towards her across the linoleum floor, thrusting his hand into his left pocket. "I have a jail record. I can't get a steady job. I can barely support myself. This seemed like a good opportunity for a new start."

Kaoru wondered what he planned on pulling from his pocket. Hopefully the key.

_- _

_What are you doing!  
Vacuuming!  
We've stayed here too long if you need to vacuum!  
What? I can't hear you!  
I said we've stayed here too long if you need to vacuum!  
You say it's your turn to vacuum!  
No! We need to leave!  
What did you say!  
We need to leave!  
What! You can vacuum next time! I didn't know you wanted to! I'm already almost done!_

_- _

Okay Kenshin, you have two knives against a guy with a sword. Granted, they're sharp knives, but still. You don't know how skilled he is with a katana. You only know him by reputation. Once upon a time he and Yahiko Myojin were rivals, although Myojin did best him in the end. Just don't kill him.

"I know who you are." Tsukayama smiled, still in his fighting stance. "You're the Battousai. Forgive me. I would have recognized you sooner if I wasn't a little tipsy."

"Why would you recognize me?" Ken asked, waiting for the other vampire to drop his guard.

"At my last briefing we had a lengthy talk about you. You're quite an interesting vampire. I was ordered to kill you if I happened to run into you. Actually, I was ordered to go looking for you and then kill you. I appreciate you finding me so promptly. This frees up my schedule."

"Who were you meeting with?" Ken asked, wishing for a full moon so he could see his opponent better.

"Anji was there."

Hiko would kill him. Relying on sight was an elementary mistake. If he tried to use his sight and fight this vampire the results would not turn out like he wanted them to.

"I wonder if it's the Anji you were asking me about?" Tsukayama asked, as if they each weren't waiting for the moment when the other dropped his guard.

"Anji the ex-monk," Ken clarified.

Yutaro Tsukayama laughed. "I'm afraid I know two ex-monks named Anji. My organization loves recruiting from the monastery world. What's his last name?"

"Yukyuzan."

"Oh him." Tsukayama nodded. "His whereabouts are classified. Sorry. I know you want to kill him because of Sanosuke."

Hiko would have killed him again, because for one instant, he'd let his guard down. And Tsukayama attacked. Ken had barely enough time to cross the two knives in front of him as a shield to block Tsukayama's forward slash at his face.

"Pity," Tsukayama said. His breath smelled like vodka and lemonade. "I was going for the asymmetrical cut."

"Your last drink was a Blue Lagoon."

"That's quite a talent you have there. But what's your point?"

"That'll be your last drink." Ken pushed Tsukayama's blade off his and slashed upward with a knife. Tsukayama easily evaded this attack and slid his katana down Ken's short knife towards his hand. Ken was forced to jump back as the other vampire launched a flurry of attacks against him. Any other vampire in Ken's position would have been at a great disadvantage, especially since Ken was forced to let one of the knives go flying from his hand towards the other end of the roof in order to keep his fingers.

_- _

_You want to head to __France__! Is the revolution over yet?  
Yes. A man named Robespierre is ruling now, a dictator. I'm interested in his system.  
He's guillotine man. Why are you interested in that?  
It's the way he does it. He's tried to take over every part of his people's lives. He probably controls what mothers sing to their children before they fall asleep.  
And you find that interesting?  
Yes.  
Well okay then. Let's head back to __France  
We can leave tomorrow night. Glad you agree to go.  
Sure… morbid._

_- _

She should have known life wasn't that good.

"You've been watching too much television," Jake told her when they were two feet apart and the gun was leveled at her forehead. "You think you can just waltz in here and make me second guess my decision to work for the dark one? I've already made that decision. There's no backing out of it, so why should I let you talk me out of it? You're still just a kid. How old are you, twenty?"

It was kind of hard to concentrate on the conversation with a gun pointed at her head, but the man seemed to expect an answer, and Kaoru was going to be damn sure to give him all the answers he needed until she could figure out a way to get the gun pointed away from her head.

"I'm twenty."

"That's what I thought. Although you could be lying about that too, with all the other things you've said since you got here, Amy. And it's only been ten minutes. My how time does creep by. I'd shoot you, but this gun doesn't have a silencer. Of course, in L.A. they might not pick up on it until I'm gone. Then again, your brother would hear, and I'm sure he's not passed out in the living room, although the guys might be. I left them alone for too long. They're a couple of lazy asses."

"Jake-"

"Shut up and let me think this out."

Kaoru was offended. He was actually rationalizing whether he was going to shoot her or not. Couldn't he just make up his mind and get it over with? And how dare he tell her to shut up!

"If I shoot you, you're brother will come running in. Then I'll shoot him. But wait, Amy, he's probably not really your brother. He's probably a highly trained operative who won't come barging in. He'll be trained to assume the shooter is hostile and to take him out. I can't deal with a trained agent unless I get lucky."

Unless I get lucky, Kaoru repeated to herself. I'm going to die, unless I get lucky.

She did it. She kicked. Miraculously, her aim wasn't off for once and the gun flew from his hand and skidded underneath the refrigerator.

"You bitch!" Jake yelled as she tackled him, falling with him to the ground. Wasting no time at getting more offended, she kneed him in the crotch as hard as she could manage and retrieved the small tranquilizer gun Tsubame had supplied her with from her purse.

"Where's the key?" Kaoru demanded, holding the gun in Jake's face. His face was a mask of anger, pain from his throbbing crotch, and fear. Oh yeah, he didn't know it wasn't a real gun. He looked too scared and confused to reply to her question, so she asked again, making a slight motion with her knee towards his crotch, which was easily accessible, since she was still where she'd landed: firmly on top of him.

"My left pants pocket."

"Don't reach." Kaoru halted the cautious movement of his hand with her tone and a gesture with the gun. "I'll get it after I shoot you."

Ah the delicious emotion of fear that passed along his face in the instant before she shot him in the shoulder with the tranquilizer gun. Payback. Jake seemed confused when he found out he wasn't dead, but his mind didn't have time to process possible reasons as to why he wasn't dead before he passed out. Since Kaoru didn't think tranquilizer guns worked that fast, even shot at point blank range, she was inclined to believe he'd fainted.

And now she was left with the wonderful task of reaching into his pants pocket. It looked like Jake had had the last laugh after all.

_- _

_This class is good for me.  
What?  
European history.__ A lot was happening back when I was human that I had no clue. I mean, I only knew what was going on in my little corner of __Japan__. How sad is that?  
Humans aren't that different today. And neither are vampires.  
You ain't telling a lie._

_- _

Ken was tired of sparring in a tuxedo. Tsukayama was good, Ken had even started to sweat, but the fact remained that he wasn't much of a challenge. He was too typical. It was as if he'd learned his moves from a book, moves which he never delineated from. He was an excellent swordsman who lacked imagination. No wonder Myojin had beaten him. Still, Tsukayama was also a welcome warm up to whoever Ken might have to face in the future. The night was still young, and Ken had a feeling about it. Not all the dark one's forces were gathered, but it was the best time to attack. Why else would he have had a briefing about Ken? He wouldn't have wanted that information released until the last possible moment before an attack. He had to get over to the Juppongatana headquarters, but first he had to take care of Tsukayama and get back to the apartment to pick up Kaoru. He couldn't leave her there with no one to protect her, and he knew that would be the place where she would request Tsubame to drop her off.

But the question of what to do with Tsukayama remained. Should he kill him, as Myojin had suggested, or leave him to rejoin the dark one and fight against him sometime in the future? As long as Tsukayama didn't catch him unawares, he could defeat the man. Ken had a feeling Myojin carried a personal grudge against him anyway. It would be best to let him live so Myojin could kill him later. Ken had a feeling Kaoru wouldn't approve of him killing the vampire anyway, not unless it was the only way. But it wasn't. Why wasn't it the only way! Ken admitted to himself that he was just too good for this.

He parried a thrust, lunged, and Tsukayama was forced to back up against a convenient wall to avoid his guts splashing on the ground from a slash across his stomach. Ken pressed his last knife to the vampire's throat.

"Tsukayama Yutaro. Where can I find Anji? Tell me."

They stared at each other. Ken could almost see the thoughts running through his opponent's mind. First Tsukayama debated killing Ken with an upward slice, but realized the knife would be through his neck before he could complete the strike. Next he contemplated a kick, a punch, a different katana attack, and various combinations of the three. But Tsukayama came up short every time, because all of those options would take too much time.

"Drop the katana," Ken ordered.

Tsukayama weighed his options. He dropped it.

Ken kicked it twenty feet away. "Raise your hands."

The other vampire complied. Having decided he wasn't going to be able to kill Ken, he adopted a bored look.

"Where's Anji?"

Tsukayama sighed. "In the event that I lost this match and remained alive, my superiors gave me a message to deliver to you."

So the bastard had been keeping information from him all along. Typical. Ken didn't comment.

"Anji has been elevated to the status of personal slave to the dark one, a result of the successful completion of a recent task. What time is it?"

"Why do you want to know?" Ken asked warily. He couldn't afford to take his eyes from Tsukayama to look at his watch.

"So I can tell you where Anji is at the moment."

"It's around one."

Tsukayama thought for a moment. "Then he's approaching Juppongatana headquarters, or he may be in already. I wasn't provided with details."

"How will they get in?"

"There's a conspiracy in the Juppongatana. So. Are you going to seek out the dark one? You could always head in the opposite direction, you know, live to fight another day."

Ken glared at him. "If you're trying to prolong your life, don't waste your time. I'm not going to kill you."

"Really? I can't say I'm not happy about that. I'm looking forward to a rematch with Myojin. So guess this means you're going after it then. From what I've heard of you, I don't blame you. The dark one has something you need, by the looks of it."

"What?" Ken asked, pressing the blade a little harder against Tsukayama's throat.

"Classified. You'd better hurry back to your apartment. They've sent a couple vampires to retrieve the Kamiya girl. Don't you care what happens to her?"

Ken wasted no time in knocking Tsukayama unconscious with the hilt of his knife. He had places to be.

_- _

_Ugh. Getting dressed up is so much trouble. Why are we going to this thing again?  
To find out what's going on in the vampire world. We both need updates.  
I know, but did we have to find it out from the rich, snotty vampires? If we just hit up the streets for a couple days, I'm sure we'd find out the same information.  
This is quicker, and you know the lower class vampires resent us because of the money we have stashed. You're just looking for a fight.  
What can I say? I had to try, didn't I?_

_- _

"I've got the key," Soujiro heard Kaoru yell. From the sound of her footsteps, she was booking it up the stairs in her heels. "We only have three minutes until Tsubame leaves-"

"Who are you two?" a now un-gagged Suzume asked from her hand-cuffed position. "Who are you working for?"

"I know, Kaoru!" Sou called, keeping his eyes on Suzume's. It was imperative that he get her to trust him, or they were going to have a lot of trouble once they actually freed her. "Hurry up, she's untied besides the handcuffs."

"You work with that woman? She was in here with Jake earlier. I don't trust her."

"That was just an act," Sou explained. "You're going to have to trust us both. We're taking you back to your aunt."

But Suzume was glaring behind him at the door. "I don't like you," she said to Kaoru.

Sou winced. Kaoru wasn't going to react favorably to that. He turned around and met her gaze with sympathy. Surprisingly, she didn't look pissed at all, just tired and determined. And she didn't slow at Suzume's words. She simply kept on walking towards them, the handcuff key prominent in her right hand. But that was the Kaoru he knew. They were so close to saving Suzume. There was no way either of them would let even Suzume mess this up. Sou vowed to knock the girl unconscious and carry her down the stairs and outside if she didn't agree to cooperate. They weren't apt to attract attention before Tsubame picked them up this time of night.

"But for some reason, I trust you," Suzume said from behind him. Eyes wide, Sou turned back to face her as Kaoru brushed past him and knelt to unlock the handcuffs and free the young woman's wrists. "When will I see my aunt again?"

Sou was amazed at her ability to completely and utterly ignore Kaoru's presence. That just wasn't done. But even as her wrists slid from the handcuffs to rest in her lap, even as she rubbed her wrists to resume blood circulation, even as Kaoru told her to get up, that they had to get going, Suzume ignored the whole world, except for him. He used to do that when he spoke to Kaoru.

"When?" she asked again, as if ten seconds hadn't elapsed, her brown eyes trained on his.

Sou blinked. "We're taking you to a safe-house. I don't know if your aunt will be there, but friends of hers will watch over you."

"Will you be there?"

"Get up, we have to go," Kaoru interrupted impatiently. "Tsubame's going to leave in two minutes. Soujiro, Suzume, get up. Can you run?"

"Yes," Sou said, not sure if he was answering Suzume or Kaoru. He rose to his feet, grabbing Suzume's wrists and pulling her to her feet. Kaoru was already standing in the doorway to the hall.

"I'm a little wobbly," Suzume said, looking down at her unsteady feet. "I was tied up for too long. Keep holding my hand and pull me along, will you?"

Sou nodded, doing as she asked and pulling her after Kaoru at a run. She hadn't been lying. Her balance was precarious. As he followed Kaoru's retreating form down the stairs with Suzume in tow, he only hoped the latter wouldn't fall on top of him as they half-ran, half-jumped, down the stairs. It was strange following his ex-girlfriend with Suzume. There was no possible reason as to why it should be strange, but Sou couldn't deny that fact.

He supposed he admired Suzume for being able to shut Kaoru out. He'd never been able to do that. He'd been conscious of her even the first time he'd met her, and after they'd started going out she'd become the center of whatever room they were in, or whatever group of people they were talking to. He knew her walk. He could spot her from across campus. She'd visit him at the job he had during the school year, and when she'd leave he'd stare after her retreating back, smiling just because he got to watch her walk. He knew her voice, the smell of her perfume, how she acted when she was nervous or sad or happy or shy. He loved her so much and in so many ways, and every day he had to talk to her or he physically missed her. He actually physically missed her. And when they couldn't see each other for a week or so, he'd try to put her out of his mind so it didn't hurt so much, but he'd always wind up thinking of her before he fell asleep: recalling some memory of when they'd gone out for lunch, or something funny she'd said or done that had made him laugh. And no matter how much he deluded himself, there was no way he was over her, no possible way he could be over her already.

He'd known first loves seldom lasted, but he'd hoped to God his would. He could stand there and he could watch her hug another man and he could put on a happy face for her and make him think he hated her now. He could insult her and yell at her and deny the fact that she'd ever meant everything to him, or even anything to him. He could deny the fact that she still meant something to him. He would do everything to make her think he was over her, that she had his blessings concerning her new relationship, because that was the only way she would be happy. He couldn't wish guilt on her. He could only wish he was over her.

So as he strolled down the dark street, Kaoru grasping his left arm, Suzume clinging to his right, all three waiting for Tsubame to pull up alongside them, he made a vow to keep Kaoru from seeing the emotion written on his face. He'd simply smile. If you were happy and you smiled all the time, no one would think anything was wrong. No one would ask questions. More importantly, Kaoru wouldn't ask questions. Or at least when she did he'd be able to answer with a reassuring smile so she could get on with her life, because he loved her too much to fight for her.

"That's her pulling up behind us now," Kaoru informed him and Suzume. She'd been using her compact mirror to keep tabs on the street behind them, although she must have known that wouldn't do any good when it came to spotting vampires. "I'll ride shotgun. I'd feel better if Suzume was with you since she trusts you more," Kaoru said in his ear.

"Good call," Sou agreed, glad his voice came out sounding pleasant. Perhaps he could pull this off after all.

"Suzume! Glad you're alright," Sou heard Tsubame say as he held the back door open and watched Suzume climb in. Kaoru had already hopped in the front passenger seat and slammed the door shut.

"Mrs. Myojin? You sent these two to come get me?" Suzume asked incredulously.

Tsubame's laughed soothed Soujiro somewhat as he climbed into the jeep after Suzume. The young woman had seated herself in the middle so she could talk to Tsubame.

"Yes. I'm sorry it took so long, Suzume. Times are rather stressful. I had to find two humans I could trust to send in after you."

Sou blinked as he shut the car door. Tsubame pressed a button and locked all the doors. He hadn't known Suzume knew about the vampire world, but if her aunt was a vampire, he supposed she had to know.

"You trust both of them?" Suzume asked. Sou knew she was really asking if she trusted Kaoru.

"Where do you want to be dropped off, Kaoru?" Tsubame ignored Suzume to ask as she pulled away from the curb and into traffic.

"My apartment, please," Kaoru replied. "It's in Aliso Village. I don't know where else to wait for Ken."

"Alright. Aliso Village it is. I know the address, so you can sit back and relax. You've probably had a rough night so far."

Kaoru sighed. "And it's only one in the morning."

"You trust both of them?" Suzume asked again, louder.

Sou sensed some tension, so he occupied himself with putting on his seatbelt while he waited for Tsubame to reply.

"I already answered that question, so why are you asking again? I would not send two people I didn't trust to save your life. Don't question either Kaoru or Soujiro's character. Neither of them have done anything to offend you. If I were you, I'd thank them for saving your life, because right now, I don't think what they did was worth the risk."

Yes, tension was definitely heavy and present in the jeep. Sou hadn't known Tsubame could speak so harshly, but he did agree with her. Suzume hadn't acted like anything but a spoiled brat so far, especially with the way she ignored Kaoru.

Kaoru laughed. "Don't hold it against her, Tsubame. Ayame doesn't like me either."

And just like that the tension was broken. Kaoru was wonderful that way.

_- _

_To be, or not to be, that is the question:  
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer  
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,  
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,  
And by opposing them.__ To die; to sleep;  
No more; and by a sleep to say we end  
The heart-ache…  
…  
The heart-ache…  
…  
Damnit! You win. I can't remember anymore.  
Where's my hundred dollars?  
…_

_- _

Kaoru sighed as she exited the elevator on the floor of Mr. and Mrs. Sato and walked towards their apartment. She and Sou had succeeded in saving a young woman from death and brainwashing, but she didn't feel as if it had gone very well at all. Somehow, it just seemed a little too easy. Jake was right. One shouldn't be able to complete a covert operation with no training but one season of that television show called 24, numerous spy movies, and a hundred Nancy Drew novels. And the 'hostage' they'd rescued had turned out to be nothing but a little 'Miss Priss' who disliked Kaoru on sight. But to be fair, there was probably more to the girl then she'd displayed in the forty-five minutes in which Kaoru had known her. And she obviously had the hots for Soujiro. How could you think about stuff like that at a time like this? Kaoru knew it was immature, but as far as she was concerned, Ayame and Suzume were perfect for each other. Stick them together with Myojin and Saitou and wouldn't that make a wonderful group, chock full of people Kaoru wished she hadn't met during the past several days in Los Angeles.

Kaoru sighed again as she inserted her key in the door and entered the apartment. They'd been in a hurry and left the lights on, so the place was looking generally inviting.

"I love air-conditioning," Kaoru said out loud in a dramatic voice as she locked the door behind her. "And I hate these shoes," she finished, kicking them off and dropping her purse and keys on the couch along with her wrap. They'd probably be leaving again when Ken got back, so she figured she should hurry and get into clothes more suited for running around in. But first, she was already so sweaty from stress and taking out Jake, that shower time approached. Any why not? She had nothing better to do while she waited for Ken. And after the shower, she'd fix a snack. She was a little hungry.

_- _

_What the hell is wrong with kids today? Those brats tried to steal my shoes.  
Why'd you take off your shoes?  
Don't laugh. I didn't. They tried to steal them right off my feet!_

_- _

"Damn traffic jams", Ken swore under his breath. Really, traffic jams at almost two in the morning were pushing it. If he didn't get to Kaoru in time because some idiot humans had had a fender bender, which he'd just found out was the cause of that particular traffic jam, he was going to be very pissed.

His cell phone rang.

Ken swore he didn't have time for this, but if it was Kaoru who was calling, though he seemed to remember she'd forgotten to bring her cell phone to the opera, then he couldn't afford to miss the call. Careful to keep his eyes on the road, because he really was driving too fast, he felt around for the phone on the seat next to him. After a few seconds and a tight hair-pin turn, he finally found it.

"Hello?"

"Ken! How are you? Aoshi and I are coming to your apartment from the airport. We'll be there in a few."

"Misao?" Where had she been when he'd needed her on the roof? Not that he'd really needed her, but it would have been so much easier if she'd been there. He would have had to waste so many of Myojin's throwing knives. The vampire was going to be pissed when Ken came back with one out of seven.

"Yeah it's me, silly. Put Kaoru on the line so I can say hi."

"She's not here."

"What?" Misao screeched in his ear. "Where is she? Don't you know how dangerous it is for her without you, and especially tonight!"

"I know. I'm on my way to the apartment now."

"What happened? Why are you split up?" Misao sounded frantic.

"I followed up on a lead while Kaoru did something for the Juppongatana. I think she's back at the apartment."

"Why don't you know? Why don't you just call her?"

"I did, I'm not stupid. Her cell phone's off and we don't have a phone installed in the apartment. I tried to reach the landlord to get him to go up and check on her, but he's not answering the number I gave him."

"Well did you leave him a message?"

"Of course, but I couldn't make it sound too urgent or he'd get suspicious. Listen, when you get there, just break in."

"What!"

"My lead flat out said the dark one's vampires are going to be at the apartment tonight to take Kaoru and use her against us. Tell Aoshi to speed. I'm still twenty minutes away. I don't care who gets there first, but we need to find Kaoru."

"Hang in there, Ken. Aoshi will speed. Bye."

Ken pressed the 'end' button. He decided to take a cue from those times when he'd seen Kaoru kneeling, talking to her God, and he started praying.

_- _

_Whoever invented taxes really sucks.  
Sano-  
I mean, they really suck. I wish I could go back in time and kill them, or at least prevent their parents from hooking up. Just something!_

_- _

Kaoru exited the bathroom clean again clad in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, with a spring in her step. Once again, she smelled pleasant and felt great. In short, she was in a good mood.

Her good mood abruptly ended when she turned on the kitchen light and saw a woman standing in her kitchen, eating one of the cookies she and Ken had baked a couple nights earlier.

Kaoru picked up the closest weapon, which happened to be a magazine. "Get out of my kitchen."

The woman smiled. Her fangs glinted from light reflected off the counter top. "I'm not leaving without you, Kaoru."

Kaoru thanked the Lord she was wearing the silver cross earrings. "You work for the dark one."

She nodded, dipping her head so low that a shock of brown hair covered her left eye. The rest of her hair was tied in a messy bun, and her mouth was green with lipstick.

"I do," she admitted, raising her head. "And I'm to bring you to my master, as leverage against the Battousai."

Kaoru stared at the woman in front of her. She had looks, and it seemed like she had personality to boot. Why was she working for the dark one?

"Why are you doing this to Ken?" Kaoru couldn't help asking.

"He is the last threat to the dark one's conquest. With you in its custody, the dark one won't lose to him."

"So that's what this is about," Kaoru realized. "The dark one is afraid of him. It's ironic; I don't think Ken knows there's a reason for his opponent to be afraid. Well after I defeat you, I can tell him myself."

"You're going to defeat me with a rolled up magazine?" the woman asked, popping the last part of the cookie in her mouth.

"Yes," Kaoru said defiantly, mentally preparing herself to attack.

"Hey, I don't fight. I only do poisons. But I wish you'd cooperate. It would save us the trouble of carrying you so far."

Kaoru realized the 'us' too late. By the time she started to turn around her vision was fading along with the rest of her five senses.

**- **

**A/N – **

**Sorry that took so long. Thank you readers! Thank you reviewers:**

**Kyla**** Minamoto, Neko Oni-chan, Kya, Shadow-Within, KenshinObsessed, KendoPunk, RogueSummersLove, KurounesLove52, Mishorou Mie, alex, the sacred night, Devil's Wing, Aye, Coiling Death, trunksgirl85, kik-ting, Hikari-kawaii, Wanted, laku, starry night blue, Serenity Komoshiro, MidnightRosebud, crasyducky, Witchitta, dolphingirl0113, Hitokiri-miao miao, paisita, legolasEstelstar, Kyia, Jupiter's Light, MZ. AMbER EYES, Sagitarious Devil, Sapphire Priestess, Bradybunch4529, Iram, animegurl23, Shannon, De Lazy Lime, Brittanie Love, Hiei's.punk.rocker.girl, pruningshears, Videl621, KCSobe, Ashes of the Star ****Phoenix****, Kuroi Tsuki Jyurian, Innocent Battousai **

**Yes, I am still alive. That overachiever school called JHU is taking it out of me, that's all. I swear, all I do is school work. I promise it will get better over the summer. But summer's a long while away, so I will try to write while I'm at school. Expect slow updates though. Sorry about that. Just ensuring I don't flunk out of college. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Aryanne**


	23. Science

**A/N – Sorry.**** I updated two and a half hours after May 25th was over.**

**-**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Chevy.**

**-**

**Silver Cross**

**-**

**Chapter 23 – Science**

**-**

_Puh  
Why'd you do that?  
I can see my spit go all the way down.  
People are walking down there.  
Eh, they'll think it's spray from the waterfall. Come on, try it.  
Fine….Puh  
See?  
It goes down so slow. I would've expected it to be faster than that….Puh  
Puh_

_- _

"Hi, Himura."

He knew from the tone of her voice. Kaoru was gone. Maybe, he hoped, maybe Kaoru hadn't come back to the apartment at all. If he'd been wrong about that, there was still a chance he could get to her first.

"Misao, Aoshi." He nodded to each in greeting, forcing himself not to have any emotions.

"She's gone, Battousai," Aoshi said. "We found signs of a struggle in the kitchen and forced entry through the window by the fire escape."

"Shit." Ken strode past them to the bedroom, slipping in the open door. He flicked the light switch. Her opera dress was lying in a heap across the bed. One of the dresser drawers was slightly open. He left the room and entered the bathroom. The inside of the shower was still wet. She'd come here, taken a shower, and then what? Gone to the kitchen for a snack and been jumped. Ken left the bathroom and went back to where the Shinomoris waited in the living room.

He sat down on the couch and took a deep breath. Letting his anger take over wouldn't solve anything. He'd have plenty of time later to blame himself for not coming in time. There was only one thing to do, only one place to go. Ken focused his eyes downward, at the carpet. Damn Myojin for not telling him the location of Juppongatana headquarters. Sure, he had a couple hunches, but he knew nothing for sure, nothing that would get him there before Kaoru ran out of time, before she wasn't useful to the dark one any longer.

"What next?" Misao broke into his thoughts. The usual cheer was missing from her tone. So she knew then, what would probably happen to Kaoru.

The carpet fibers were really very intricate. He didn't think he could look up yet, not without losing control. "We follow the dark one's example and head to the Juppongatana. Kaoru will show up eventually."

"So he is attacking tonight," Aoshi said. "What else do you know, Battousai?"

"I talked with Tsukayama Yutaro, one of the dark one's spies. Anji is the dark one's personal guard and Sanosuke Sagara is mixed up in all this. It doesn't matter. I don't know where Juppongatana headquarters is located. We'll have to follow vampire ki, and I don't know how long that's going to take."

"Aoshi and I know," Misao spoke up, surprising Ken. "We asked for the address when Myojin requested our presence. We'll come with you. But, Himura," she paused. "How can Sano be involved? He's dead."

"It must be something he did before he died," Ken rationalized.

"Something that wasn't important until now?" Aoshi asked skeptically. "It would have been Sekihoutai business. That organization is only just starting to get back on its feet after its defeat. They have no role in this fight."

Ken stood from the couch, his eyes still downcast. He knew what Aoshi was implying. "Sano wouldn't have betrayed the Sekihoutai and joined with any other organization before he died, especially after his team was killed by the dark one. It has to have something to do with the Sekihoutai." Rationalizing was easy. Rationalizing kept his mind off Kaoru. Where was she? What were they doing to her? What would she look like when he saw her next? Would he recognize her? Would he ever be able to look up from the damn carpet?

"Let's go." Ken drew his mind from the subject of Kaoru with difficulty. "We'll take your car since you know where headquarters is. Who's driving?"

"Aoshi will. I'm better with directions."

Ken nodded. Kaoru may have been taken, but he could get her back. He didn't know where she was now, but he knew where she had to end up. And for a twenty year old almost junior in college, she was strong. The attack was imminent. There wasn't any time for them to try and break her. No time. If only he could lie to himself. He'd never been able to lie to himself. There wasn't much time, but there was enough for them to do whatever they wanted with her. And then she'd be different, changed, not the Kaoru who'd left him at the symphony. But she'd been changing all along. All along and he still needed her.

He met Misao's eyes. "How long will it take?"

_- _

_My life! My life! What happened to my life?  
I don't know. What happened?  
Finals! All I do is wake up, eat, study, and sleep. What happened to the nights when I actually did stuff? Life used to be so good.  
You did it to yourself. You didn't have to take six courses at once, or any courses at all.  
I know. I just needed a distraction. I needed something a little boring and normal. You'd think night classes would do that, right? I went way too overboard.  
How is it even possible to take six classes at night?  
I think finals period is teaching me that it isn't possible._

_- _

"Wake up. Are you alright? Hey! Can you hear me? Missy! Wake up!"

And then she was awake.

And she was not happy.

"Are you awake? Come on, wake up! Don't die on me!"

What was that annoying voice talking about? She wasn't going to die. She wanted to go back to sleep. She'd been having a nice dream. Kenshin had been in it. They'd gone somewhere, maybe an amusement park. Some place with a lot of people. And it had been a beautiful sunny day. But Kenshin couldn't go outside. He was a vampire. And he didn't have time for amusement parks. He was too busy trying to track down the dark one.

Kaoru lifted her eyelids, suddenly awake. She was staring up into a pair of brown eyes.

"You're awake!" the owner of the eyes said, relieved.

Kaoru backed away from the man as fast as she could on her elbows, since she'd discovered she was lying on her back on the floor. "Where's that woman?" she asked frantically, amazed she could have forgotten for even a few moments. What would Ken say?

"I was worried you had a concussion," the young man continued. "I didn't want you to slip into a coma."

"Where is she?" Kaoru practically shrieked, still backing away. Her head bumped against the wall behind her. The impact was enough to make her see stars as her vision temporarily darkened. She struggled to stay conscious. She must have hit her head on the same spot she'd been hit before. She felt her body being pulled up to a standing position. The stranger shook her a little and the dimness receded to the corners of her vision. A few blinks and it was gone.

"Thanks," Kaoru murmured, really looking at the stranger for the first time. An easy grin played across his mouth, his hair was spiky, and the brown of his hair matched the brown of his eyes exactly. His tanned skin was slightly darker than hers, which made sense since most people on the California coast had darker complexions than her. He was a lot taller than her, at least a foot, and his thin build resembled Saitou's. They both had the same broad shoulders. He was dressed as casual as her in sneakers, jeans, and a t-shirt.

"No problem, Missy. You want to sit down? You still look a little pale. And what woman were you talking about?"

The questions were asked easily. Speech flowed from his tongue. He seemed at ease, but there was heaviness to his manner, as if he'd carried a weight a long time and it was only his determination that prevented him from collapsing. He looked beyond tired, as if his body really was on the verge of collapsing. The dark circles under his eyes had probably been there for a long time and his complexion under his tan was the palest ivory. Sure, he'd dragged her to her feet when she'd almost blacked out, but Kaoru had a feeling that had taken more will power than strength. She felt bad and wished he could heal from whatever sickness plagued his body, but all the same she was relieved. If he tried to overpower her, she could definitely fend him off.

Kaoru let her eyes move from the stranger to travel around the room. Correction, concrete cell. The only part that wasn't concrete was the door, and that was metal. A dim bulb hung from the ceiling, the cell's one source of illumination. The only things in the room were a toilet and sink in the far corner. There was no bed or chair to speak of, and no where to sit but the floor.

"Did you see who brought me here?" she asked him, done with her perusal of the room. She'd spotted no tools to help her escape. There were no windows to pry the bars from and not even a handle on the door, so there was no lock to pick. The only way she was getting out was if the door opened. Or perhaps if the walls were thin. If she could break off a part of the sink or something maybe she could hammer her way through the concrete and dig a hole big enough to crawl to freedom. She'd seen that in a movie once. But it had taken the main character ten or twenty years to dig his way to freedom. She probably had about an hour, depending on how long she'd been unconscious.

He hunched over a little and coughed into his hand, drawing her attention back to him. "I was napping in the corner when they threw you in," he said, standing straight once again. "All I saw were black figures, probably men. You messed with the wrong group of vampires, Missy. I'm surprised. You look like a good girl."

Kaoru couldn't help but laugh a little. "You'd think so." A wave of dizziness swept through her and she swayed.

"You do need to sit down," he observed, grabbing her elbow and helping her sit so her back was against the wall.

"Thanks," Kaoru said as he took a seat next to her. "You don't seem so bad. How'd you end up here?"

He shrugged and stared across the room. "Hell, it seems like I was born in the wrong place, wrong time. It must have started then." He shook his head. "Must have. At this point, I'm not feeling much but tired. You, Missy?"

Kaoru shook her head and tried to breathe slowly and regularly. "There's too much stuff to do before I start feeling tired."

He laughed. "I used to be like that, not too long ago. But I had a lot more going for me then. You have family, Missy?"

Kaoru nodded. She hadn't thought of her parents in what felt like forever.

"Well I hope you see them again. They must love you."

"Is your family gone?" she couldn't help asking.

He nodded. "A long time ago, my girlfriend too. But still, I had found a new family. I guess it just wasn't meant to work out."

Kaoru didn't say anything. What was there to say?

"You have a boyfriend, Missy? I hope he's looking for you."

Kaoru waited a long time to answer. "I don't know," she said.

"You don't know if you have a boyfriend, or you don't know if he's looking for you?" He still wasn't looking at her. Was the other side of the room so very interesting that he couldn't give her the common courtesy of making eye contact?

Kaoru shrugged and decided she my as well stare at the other side of the room as well. "Both, I guess."

He snorted. "You're not one of those chicks who plays hard to get are you, who likes messing around with guys' minds?"

It was Kaoru's turn to snort. "No. It just feels weird to call him my boyfriend. And I won't unless he wants me to."

"He doesn't hit you, does he?"

"No," Kaoru exclaimed, staring hard at the sink on the other side of the room. "He wouldn't ever do that! Our relationship is different, that's all."

"Different? How can it be different? You either love each other or you don't."

"Why am I having this conversation with you? I should be trying to get out."

"It's safer in here than out there."

Kaoru shivered. "Where are we anyway?"

"A cell in Juppongatana headquarters." He started coughing. Each cough racked through his whole body and bent him further towards the cement floor. He was having trouble breathing when the coughs started to subside. He wiped the hand he'd been using to cover his mouth on his jeans. Kaoru tried to ignore the dark smear of blood on his jeans when he rested his hand on the ground beside him. Sitting there, waiting for him to stop gasping and gain control of his breathing, the implications of his words dawned on her.

She hadn't been captured by the dark one. Myojin had done this to her. She was going to kill him when she got out! But the woman with the poison had said she worked for the dark one. Had she and whoever she'd been working with been captured by the Juppongatana and taken to their prison? Maybe they'd thought she worked for the dark one and it was all a big misunderstanding.

"The Juppongatana are being infiltrated literally from the bottom up," the man continued. He'd gotten his breathing under control fairly quickly. Something told Kaoru he'd been sick for a long time. "Apparently, we're both worth something to them. When the time is right you'll be brought up to the battle scene to play your part in aiding the dark one's victory."

"Then they've already gotten into Juppongatana headquarters," Kaoru realized.

He nodded. "They've taken control of this bottom level as of a half hour ago. They freed all the Juppongatana prisoners and replaced them with people like us, people they can use. Is your boyfriend an influential Juppongatana member?"

"No," Kaoru answered softly. "But he'll fight for them."

He let out a low whistle. "He must be pretty important. You must love him a lot, considering he's a vampire and you're not."

Kaoru was glad the dim light covered her blush. "How'd you know he was a vampire?"

"The dark one wouldn't waste its time on a human."

"Then why's it wasting its time on me?"

His chuckle was hoarse from the coughing. "You've got a point. But my theory is proved once again, since you're the means to an end. I wonder who it could be. He'd have to have been around when I was touring the world twenty years ago, or he wouldn't be strong enough to bother with. I've probably met him."

"Maybe," Kaoru said.

"Not even one clue for me, Missy? Just 'maybe'?"

Kaoru shrugged. What would it matter if he had met Ken at some point? "His name starts with a K," she said, just to appease him a little.

"That's not much of a clue," the man grumbled. Vampire, Kaoru corrected herself. He's a vampire. She shrugged off his grumbling and gingerly reached back to touch her head, feeling for the lump she knew must be there. "What are you sick with?" she couldn't resist asking.

"It's just chronic bronchitis and a couple other things mixed in. I've handled it for a while. I'm a vampire. It won't kill me."

"How are you even sick if you're a vampire?" Kaoru asked.

"Viruses aren't too picky and my body is weaker than a human's as a result of the strain put on it on a regular basis. Don't worry about it. There's nothing you can do anyway. So, Katsu? Komaji?"

"What?" Kaoru asked in confusion.

"The boyfriend. Is his name Kabuto? Kiba? Kei? Kakashi? Kaioh? Katsura? Kajiki? Kenji? Kanryu? Ke-"

"Kanryu!" Kaoru broke in. "He attacked me the other night! Are you associated with him?" If he was, she was going to have to change her opinion of this stranger.

He looked surprised. "That weasel's still around? I thought for sure someone would have killed him off by now. Nah, Missy. Just naming the few K names of people I've run into over the years."

He sighed and stood. "It's been nice talking to you though."

"What?" Kaoru asked, confused.

"They're coming for one of us. Considering the shape you're in, I hope it's me."

Kaoru scrambled to her feet. "What about the shape you're in?" He didn't answer. She would have preferred a fighting stance, but she had to settle for a hand against the wall. She was still unsteady. "Whatever happens," she stated, "I'll remember you."

His eyes widened for a moment before his face adopted that same easy grin. "I'll remember you too, Missy."

A key turned the locks in the door and it swung open. Two bulky male vampires stepped inside. "Come, Sagara."

So that was his name. Something about it seemed familiar. It wasn't common. Where had she heard it before? He winked at her and ambled across the room. As he stepped between the two guards, they each grabbed one of his arms and twisted it behind his back.

"His name's Kenshin," Kaoru said to her ex-cellmate. She didn't see his reaction, but she hoped it held a little satisfaction. He looked like he deserved something. The lock sounded in the door and Kaoru sat down to wait.

_- _

_I can't find my belt.  
Is this it?  
Oh yeah. Thanks.  
Hmm.__ Looks like you're gaining a little weight. This belt hole looks worn, but the one after it is worn even more.  
Give me that! And couldn't that just mean I've lost weight?  
Um.__ No._

_- _

"It's the green Chevy, right?" Misao asked.

"Yeah," Aoshi answered. "For the past ten minutes. Keep an eye on it for me, will you?"

"Sure thing," Misao trilled brightly.

"Have you found something you like yet, Battousai?"

For the past ten minutes, Ken had been sitting quietly in the backseat, deciding which weapons would suit himself and the Shinomoris best of the couple's small arsenal. His suit and tie weren't the best clothes to fight in, but he'd have to make due.

"The katana has always suited me," Ken answered. "And a handgun for my pocket should be sufficient. I'd like to bring Kaoru a weapon, but I don't see any small enough."

"Pass me the pouch of kunai, will you, Himura?" Misao asked, reaching an open hand behind her in Ken's general vicinity.

He handed it to her silently.

"You'll have to toss her the handgun when we find her," Misao advised. "We don't have anything else small that a novice could use. She's no master with senbon is she?"

"No," Ken answered. Memories of his encounter with Tomoe and her senbon needles flashed across his mind before he suppressed them. "Kaoru has never fought with senbon. I think she's only used a bokken and I don't know if she's accurate with a gun or not." Ken was starting to realize how much he didn't know about Kaoru. Hopefully he'd be able to remedy that once the night was over. He hadn't been joking when he'd said he wanted to meet her parents. They held the keys to so many memories. What was like as a child? He wanted to know the events that shaped her into the person she was now.

"Hopefully she won't have to do much fighting then," Misao said. "Are you sure you'll be alright with a katana? How long has it been since you used one?"

"A few nights." Since he'd gone to kill Tomoe.

Misao was silent for a moment. "I won't ask. Well good luck with it. You'll probably have to use it as soon as we get there. Question, Aoshi. Kill or wound?"

"Kill unless it's someone important," Aoshi answered without even the minutest pause. "How many more blocks?"

Misao consulted the map as Ken drew Aoshi's kodachi from the pile of weaponry. "Two. You can park in that garage."

Aoshi slowed the car as they approached a large office building, about twenty stories tall. So that was it. Hidden in plain sight.

"Looks like we have company," Misao observed as they entered the deserted parking garage at ground level. Two women were leaning against the doors that let directly from the garage to the building. Ken expected guards, but these women wore no uniform. Had the dark one's forces already gained control of the ground level of Juppongatana headquarters?

Aoshi parked the car thirty feet away from the women. Ken handed him the two kodachi once all three of them stood outside the car and reached into the backseat to retrieve the katana before shutting the door. Behind them, the green Chevy pulled into the garage and parked, successfully blocking the entrance. The driver of the car turned off the engine, but the headlights remained on, even as the figure emerged from the car. In the light, Ken could only make out the tall, bulky form of a man. He could sense the vampire ki rolling off the figure in waves. Whoever he was, he was powerful.

"Identify yourselves, strangers," one of the women yelled across the parking lot.

Misao glanced at Aoshi, who nodded so slightly that Ken almost missed the action. Misao stepped forward a couple paces from Aoshi. "We're members of the Oniwaban. We've come from New York to aid the Juppongatana."

"You've come too late," the woman answered, bending down and picking up something from the ground. "My name is Shurra and I work for the dark one. You cannot pass."

She'd picked up a pair of nun chucks. She was probably very good with them if the dark one had left only her and one other woman to guard the door. Ken did not have time to fool around with a woman stupid enough to get in his way.

The other woman placed a hand on Shurra's arm, stopping her from striding forward. "Which one of you is the Battousai?"

Ken blinked in surprise. Misao and Aoshi exchanged a glance.

"What makes you ask that question?" Misao asked.

"The man behind you was instructed to find the Battousai and bring him here alive. He wouldn't return without the successful completion of that mission."

Ken stepped forward, even with Misao. "It's me. Let us through."

The woman's laugh echoed across their level of the parking garage. "You are as difficult as described. I'm Yumi, the dark one's head chemist. If what I've heard about you is accurate, you'll be very interested in my latest work. The late Yukishiro Tomoe was on my team of scientists. Perhaps she told you of the project before her death?"

Ken remembered his last conversation with Tomoe.

_"Who betrayed Sano to the dark one? Why are you working for him? How long will he stay in __L.A.__?"_

_"They'll be here in ten minutes," Tomoe whispered. "Go." Her whole body writhed in his hands as she suppressed a bought of coughing. "It has something you want. Don't fight tonight."_

_"What does the dark one have that I want? Tomoe? Tomoe? Tomoe?"_

Yumi obviously knew what Tomoe had been speaking of. Tomoe had known him well at one point. She would know what would interest him. But a scientific discovery? What could he possibly use it for?

"Aoshi," Ken said to the vampire waiting behind him. "Don't kill her if you can help it."

Hearing his words, Yumi drew her sword. "I have always wanted to fight such a worthy adversary, Shinomori-san. Your double kodachi against my tai chi. This fight shall me memorable."

"I doubt it," Aoshi replied.

Yumi laughed softly. "My tai chi narrow blade sword requires ten years of practice before basic instruction can even be started. I had thirty. I have excellent chi control and I have been fighting with this sword for one hundred years."

"Stop your bragging," Misao commanded, drawing a kunai from the pack tied securely around her waist. "You're no match for Shinomori-sama. You can never be his equal."

"I expected those words from a doting wife," Shurra spoke. "Himura, the man behind you should spark your interest. His name is Anji. Haven't you been searching for him?"

Ken turned his body sideways so he could watch the man caught in the headlights and the two women at once. If what they said was true, he had a big interest in Anji.

"Enough," Yumi yelled, annoyed. "Let's get started. Shurra, you'll do better against the kunai."

"Cover me," Shurra yelled as ran forward to attack Misao.

"Don't worry about them, Himura," Misao said, fist full of kunai. "Go after Anji."

Ken nodded and sprinted away from the Shinomoris, towards the man still standing calmly by the car.

_- _

_Too much of a good thing.  
Come on, just eat one more bowl.  
No!  
Just one more and you'll win.  
I don't know why I agreed to this bread pudding gorge-fest, but I am not eating another bowl!_

_- _

She hadn't been happy when he'd left her behind, but Soujiro didn't think there was anything else he could have done. Suzume would have only gotten in the way at Juppongatana headquarters. Sou knew he was already in the way. To have her along, tagging after him, would have only made it worse. He'd made sure she was reunited with her aunt, Ayame, who didn't seem so bad, even though she didn't like Kaoru, and told her he was leaving. Maybe he wouldn't have felt so bad if she hadn't accepted it. Hanging around Kaoru and his older sister, Atsuko, he'd been used to loud, volatile protests, to screaming, stomping, and arguing. All Suzume had done was stand there, crying noiselessly. He felt horrible.

"Soujiro," Tsubame said. "Snap out of it and help me look."

Tsubame had received intelligence on a project of the dark one's from Ayame in return for returning her niece. They'd sped to the library at Juppongatana headquarters to do some research on genetic mutations in vampires.

"For what exactly," Sou asked. Tsubame was being uncharacteristically frustrating and secretive with the information from Ayame. "I don't know what to look for if you won't tell me anything."

Tsubame seemed to be weighing the pros and cons of telling Sou, before sighing and slowing her furious scanning of book titles. "Fine, but you're not to repeat this to anyone, not even my husband."

Sou nodded.

"I'm second in command, head of the security division, after my husband and Saitou, but only because I was head of the science branch of the Juppongatana beforehand. As head scientist, I was kept informed on all projects being carried out."

Sou hadn't known Tsubame was also a scientific genius.

"Thirty years ago we had a brilliant scientist named Yumi. She'd been involved, over the years, with a vampire who resented his state of being. He wanted to be human again. He was the person who inspired Yumi to try to find a method to turn back a vampire's bodily clock, back to the time when they were human."

Sou hadn't thought that was possible. In all the vampire movies he'd seen on television, there had never been mention of a vampire turning back into a human. Didn't a human have to die to become a vampire? In some books he'd read, their hearts had completely shriveled. Surely they couldn't be used again! Tsubame must have seen the doubt on his face, because she began to explain.

"In theory, a vampire's heart is capable of working on its own again. Yumi also believed that the aging process can be restarted at the point where the individual became a vampire, maybe even before. This vampire and Yumi worked for years to develop a medication, a liquid that would revert the subject to his or her human form. Something big happened, thirty years ago, and he died."

Tsubame paused, clearly thinking of that event thirty years ago.

"Yumi was desperate without him," she continued, "and I didn't feel she was emotionally stable enough to continue her work. I requested she take a year off. She refused. One night she turned traitor and abandoned the Juppongatana, destroying all data she couldn't carry with her. We tried to search for her, but had no luck. The next time I heard of her, she'd joined the dark one and become his head chemist."

That was definitely an interesting story, but Sou still didn't see what it had to do with him and Tsubame searching around a library at three in the morning. "What did Ayame tell you?"

"Yumi finally found a way to turn vampires back into humans, some combination of rare chemicals. She just needs a test subject. She wants to use the Battousai. Yumi started her theory from the books in this library. If I can get even the slightest idea of her theory from them, maybe I can stop her."

"But what if he wants to be human?" Sou asked. For Kaoru's sake, he wished it was possible for the man to become human again.

"I know he does," Tsubame said, surprising him.

"Then why stop him?"

"I don't want to, but he's a huge asset to the Juppongatana. If he were to become human, much of our advantage over other vampire groups would be lost. Also, the dark one isn't aware of the chemical formula Yumi has developed. It uses her for her tai chi skills and merely indulges her scientific pursuits. If the Battousai becomes human, the dark one would kill him. Plus, Yumi needs him as her test subject, she doesn't know if the chemical will work for sure. As his colleague, I can't allow him to ingest the chemical until the dark one is destroyed."

Tsubame's gaze grew worried. "If he knew, he would take it the first opportunity he had. I have to stop him."

Myojin burst through the double doors at the entrance to the library, slammed them shut behind him, and locked the doors with the security pad just inside the library.

Sou stared at him.

"Yahiko?" Tsubame asked, her hand resting on the pack tied around her waist. Soujiro didn't know what was in that pack, but he had some ideas.

"Damnit!" Myojin swore. "Security's down. We'll have to fight."

"What's going on?" Soujiro asked.

Myojin strode to meet them. "We've finally been invaded by the dark one. The lower levels are already taken over. Soujiro and I will provide a distraction. Tsubame, I want you to escape, find a secure location, and call the hunters. We'll need their aid. Then scout the building and judge whether you can be of some service to our forces. Don't get caught."

Tsubame nodded. "Stay strong, Yahiko."

Someone began pounding on the door.

Soujiro realized he wouldn't last very long without a weapon. Nope. Not very long at all.

"Alright. Tsubame, hide and wait until they're all in to make your escape, but kill one on the way out. Seta, hide with Tsubame and follow her as she makes her charge. Use the weapon of the first one she kills."

The door wasn't going to last much longer.

Tsubame grabbed his hand and started moving behind the stacks of books. "Come on, Soujiro."

Just as she'd dragged him away from the sight of the door, Sou heard it break down with a crash, and then the sound of yelling as the vampires charged towards Tsubame's husband.

"The slow one," Tsubame whispered, letting go of Sou's hand to grab a shuriken from her pack as she ran silently forward. Sou followed, grimacing as he watched her throw the star shaped dagger. The shuriken spun through the air and caught the man in the neck. He dropped without a cry. The rest of the men didn't realize one of their comrades was down. Sou reached the fallen vampire and grabbed the katana from his spasming fingers. He glanced towards the door in time to see Tsubame's heel disappear around the corner. Luckily, Sou was talented with katana, talented enough to stay alive anyway. He turned to where Myojin was fighting with his own katana, only to discover the attacking vampires had spotted him and were already charging forward.

_- _

_Your stapler looks like a shark.  
No it doesn't!  
I think I'll call it Sharky.  
What? You idiot. It doesn't look like a shark.  
Can I borrow Sharky real quick?_

_- _

The sounds of fighting inside the building were now audible, but Ken had to get past Anji to get inside. The man had proved to be a suitable opponent. He fought with a naginata, a shafted weapon known for its use by Buddhist monks. He used the naginata as an extension of himself and wielded it with sweeping, circular motions. Anji had obviously been fighting with it for many years.

Ken would have been intimidated by the naginata's two foot long blade if he'd had any time to be intimidated. But his mind was too full of questions concerning Tomoe, Yumi, and Sano. And there was always Kaoru hovering in the back of his mind. It was all he could do to focus on what Hiko had taught him and keep his mind entirely on the fight. He no longer cared about Anji, knowing all his answers could be found inside. Anji had ceased to be the vampire who betrayed Sano. He was now only a means to an end.

_- _

_I don't like the sound of clean dishes.  
What?  
When you pick up a plate from on top of the other clean ones, it sounds squeaky. It's gross.  
Do you prefer your dishes dirty then?  
No. I just don't like setting the table.  
What happens when you live alone and you have to sit the table?  
That's not going to happen. I'm not going to live alone.  
Sure._

_- _

If she wasn't so scared she'd be bored. The cell was obviously sound proof for humans, because she hadn't heard anything since they'd taken Sagara away. After he'd left, she'd tried again to find a way to escape, but it was hopeless. No windows, nothing hard and sharp that she could use and nothing to hit even if she did have something to hit it with. With no noise but her breathing, the silence was getting loud.

Kaoru wondered where Ken was. Even if he was somewhere above her, defending Juppongatana headquarters, it could take him hours to find her. Only three hours until sunrise. He'd probably have to wait until tomorrow night. She'd be hungry by then. And even if he did help defeat the dark one's men, they might take her with her in their retreat. Would they keep her until it was time to try again?

Kaoru wondered where Soujiro was. He'd said he was going to stay at the safe house with Suzume, but she doubted Tsubame would leave him there. The Juppongatana needed him in case the hunters showed up and started to turn on them. Was he somewhere above her too? She hoped he was at the safe house, but if he was in Juppongatana headquarters, she hoped he fought well. Soujiro had trained with a katana his whole life. He wasn't a pushover. Wouldn't it be ironic if Sou, a human, was the one to defeat the dark one? Ken probably wouldn't be very happy, but he'd have to get over it.

Kaoru wondered where Sagara was. She'd developed a liking for the sick vampire at some point in their short conversation. It was probably his teasing and his smile that had done it. He'd made her feel at ease in his presence, even with his probing questions about her boyfriend.

_"Different? How can it be different? You either love each other or you don't."_

He was right. And she loved Kenshin. So why hadn't she told him? Because all this had happened in an insanely short time and she didn't want to rush things. And it was hard to randomly rush up to him and say 'I love you'. If she did that she'd probably sound ridiculously cheesy and then he'd laugh and tease her. So why hadn't she told him? Because she'd felt guilty about ditching Soujiro. Because her parents hadn't met him. Because he was a vampire and she wasn't. Because it was hard to start something when she knew it couldn't be permanent.

But she needed to face the facts. She'd already started something.

_- _

_You spilled the pixie stick candy.  
What? No I didn't.  
It's right there on the floor.  
What?  
Don't rub your shoe in it!  
Oh yeah. It is there.  
At least it's not carpet._

_- _

Together with Myojin, they'd taken out fifteen vampires, but there were too many. Soujiro was beginning to see that now, and he had a feeling Myojin had known even as he'd entered the library. That was why he'd sent his wife away. And Soujiro was confident he hadn't been sending his second in command away. He'd been sending his wife away. He wondered if Tsubame realized yet.

"Seta," Myojin yelled. "After we kill this wave put your katana down. If we're going to die, we're going to do it in front of the dark one."

It was the only way to live a little longer, Sou realized. The dark one obviously wanted the leader of the Juppongatana under his control. He'd have ordered his men to bring Myojin to him, dead or alive. Sou hoped he was as valuable to the dark one as Myojin was. Ducking low, he brought his katana slicing across his opponent's chest, effectively defeating his foe. He glanced to Myojin. His opponents were down as well.

"Alright," Sou answered the vampire leader, throwing his katana across the library. Myojin did the same and walked over to where Sou stood.

"Just stay calm and keep your hands raised in the air so they know you're not armed. Once we identify ourselves, they'll realize how much we're worth and take us to wherever the dark one is waiting," Myojin instructed, raising his arms in the air and facing the door as the first few of the dark one's vampires entered in warily.

Sou did as he'd instructed. It turned out there was no need for them to identify themselves.

"Myojin," the leader of the group said with a smirk. "I'd heard there was some trouble on this level so I came down to end it. I should have known it was you. I guess you heard I was coming since it appears you're ready to surrender," the stranger gloated.

"Tsukayama Yutaro. I heard you'd joined the dark one," Myojin answered, keeping his arms raised in surrender as the group of vampires drew closer to them. "I'm surprised you're still alive. I'd been hoping the Battousai killed you."

"I knew it must have been you who set him on me," Tsukayama said almost happily. "It feels so nice to be right." He sighed. "The Battousai could have finished me off, but when I let the news leak out that the Kamiya girl was going to be captured, he left in a hurry. He only knocked me unconscious."

"You captured Kamiya Kaoru?" Soujiro blurted out. Oops. Myojin would probably kill him for that later.

"She's downstairs in a holding cell actually. The dark one plans on using her in his confrontation with the Battousai. He'll probably kill her to get the vampire angry, but I have to admit, I'm not exactly sure. Who are you, human?"

"He's Seta Soujiro, nephew of Makoto Shishio, the hunter," Myojin answered.

Tsukayama shrugged. "I guess he can stay alive then." He gestured and four men came forward to bound Myojin and Sou's hands behind their backs. Sou didn't resist, but he found the whole thing disturbing. It felt like he was getting arrested. Randomly, he wondered what his mother would think if someone took a photo of this moment and mailed it to her. And what would Atsuko think? Soujiro cringed mentally. The wrath of his sister was not something to be trifled with. He frowned when the smart bastards decided to bind his feet loosely. At least they hadn't attached a cannonball to the chains. That might have been too much for Sou to handle.

"Well, we're off," Tsukayama said brightly. "Maybe you and I can have an exhibition match for the dark one while we're waiting for the Battousai, Myojin."

"I'd like that," Sou heard Myojin say from in front as they were led from the library. Insane, that's what he was. Sure he'd saved Sou's life back there in the park, but that didn't change the fact that he was nutty. The Juppongatana leader better have developed some equally crazy plan that seemed like it would never work but actually wound up working out better than Sou could have ever imagined. Yeah. He better have.

_- _

_What! But Van can't be a double agent!  
No one ever said he was.  
What else could he have been talking about when he said his real name wasn't Michael Van? And just when he was going to marry Sarah!  
It's the season finale. They had to throw in a twist.  
But things were so perfect! Sure it was cheesy, but it seemed like everything was going to be alright for once. Sarah's dad and her mom finally know the truth about each other too. It's been sixteen years for them!  
I think you're a little to obsessed with this show.  
And did Sarah and Van's car have to crash just when he was going to tell her the truth about his past? I bet that was an enemy spy that crashed into them! He ruined their perfect moment of happiness. They were going to elope!  
Are you… crying?_

_- _

Ken had to give the hunters some credit, they'd arrived just when he was beginning to discover his fight with Anji was going to take longer than he preferred. Enishi had jumped in and distracted Anji without a word, giving Ken time to escape towards the door to Juppongatana headquarters. But he hadn't gone in, because of Shishio and Yumi.

"You are not coming with me," Ken stated flatly to both of them. Aoshi waited silently a few feet behind Yumi. Their battle had worn both sides.

"My nephew is inside," Shishio told him. "You're the only one who can get past the dark one's forces. I'm coming with you."

"We can't attack the dark one until we free the samples from my lab," Yumi said forcefully.

Ken decided to deal with Yumi first. "I don't have time to go to a lab," Ken told her, still not exactly sure why she'd defected from the dark one and was begging him to help her.

"I infiltrated this building a few weeks ago and performed the last of my experiments here so the dark one wouldn't discover what I was working on," Yumi explained. "I need your help to get it. My discovery will change the world for vampires, Battousai."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Shurra and I are the ones who brought Kaoru here from your apartment. After I stop by my lab, I'll free her and escort her safely away."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

Yumi smiled. "Let's see if I remember right. She'd just gotten back from a mission with Tsubame Myojin, who we saw drop her off along with two unidentified humans. She came upstairs, changed out of her elaborate dress, and took a shower. She headed to the kitchen for a snack. I confronted her. She was about to attack me with a rolled up magazine when Shurra knocked her unconscious. She's wearing silver cross earrings. She's about twenty. Her voice is light and high, even for a woman. From the stance she adopted when she almost attacked me, she's been exposed to some form of Japanese martial arts. She has straight black hair, waist-length,-"

"I believe that part of your story," Ken acknowledged. It sounded too much like Kaoru to be a lie, especially the part about her trying to attack someone with a rolled up magazine.

"I saw the magazine on the floor," Aoshi confirmed calmly from behind Yumi.

"Fine. Aoshi, go with Yumi. Shishio, I'll let you come on the condition that Enishi works with Misao Shinomori to command your hunters in their infiltration of Juppongatana headquarters."

Shishio glanced at one of his waiting hunter lackeys, who ran off, presumably to give Enishi the orders. "It's done, Battousai."

"Good. Stealth only, Shishio," Ken warned.

He slipped inside first. In contrast to the echoing noise of the parking garage, the building's silence carried a dead aura.

"The dark one is on the top floor, Battousai. Take the stairs on your left." Yumi whispered. She ran lightly down the hallway, tai chi blade drawn. Aoshi followed with his double kodachi. They disappeared around a corner.

Ken turned behind him to Shishio. The hunter's gun was drawn. Ken nodded towards the stairs and started moving.

_- _

_Hey, that's really cool. Where'd you get it?  
One of my contacts.__ Her parents sent a whole box to her.  
Wow. I wonder how they do that.  
I know, I've tried to figure it out, but I guess you have to work for the rubber band company to know how they do it.  
How long did you have it around those index cards?  
Over a year.  
Wow. And it still goes back to its animal shape!  
This rubber band's a hippo, but she had some giraffes and lions and stuff too.  
So cool, man!_

_- _

Kaoru scrambled to her feet. "Tsubame," she exclaimed incredulously, hurrying over to the woman who stood in the open doorway of her cell. "How'd you know I was here? Did the Juppongatana defeat the dark one's vampires?"

Tsubame shook her head. "I escaped from an attack on the tenth floor. I called the hunters to our aid, but I'm not sure if they've arrived. I was freeing the dark one's prisoners. I didn't expect you to be here. You're the last one."

Kaoru slipped out the door of her cell and into a dimly lit hallway. Tsubame let the door fall shut behind her. The bodies of guards littered the floor, in various states of decomposition.

"My shuriken are coated with a special powder I've developed," Tsubame explained quietly. "It's basic light. An ordinary shuriken won't kill a vampire, but mine will. All Juppongatana weapons are tipped with the substance. Please ignore the bodies, Ms. Kamiya."

Kaoru picked up a dagger from the ground at her feet. "I guess I'll have to fight with this."

"No offense, Ms. Kamiya, but I'd rather extract you from the building. The Battousai would not be pleased if you hung around."

Ha! As if she was going to leave without Kenshin walking right beside her. She had to know he was alive. "He's here, Tsubame," Kaoru said to the other woman. "I'm going to find him. I'm going to be there when he avenges Sano's death. It's too big a moment in his life for me to miss. It's going to change him, and I'm going to be there. Where is he?"

She could see Tsubame thinking it over. The petite woman's gaze drifted from Kaoru's eyes to someone else, someone who wasn't in the dark hallway.

"He'll show up where the dark one is, somewhere on the top floor."

It was all coming to a head too fast for Kaoru. "How do I get up there?"

"Yahiko's up there," Tsubame informed her. "I'm coming with you. Even though the security system is down, the dark one will know we're coming. We my as well take the elevator."

That meant getting captured for sure. Then she'd be used as a pawn for the dark one. Kaoru sighed. There was no way to avoid it then.

Tsubame placed a hand on her shoulder. "We won't be captured. We'll take the freight elevator on the other side of the building. There won't be many guards on that side and the elevator is defensible until we kill the ones in the immediate area. I can get you out Kamiya. Are you sure you want to go up?"

She was sure alright, just scared. Wimping out sounded excellent right about now. But she'd hate herself if she left Ken. She'd never be able to stop feeling ashamed of herself if she did that. But she wasn't a baby and she shouldn't be afraid of a little pain at her age. Twenty! She was supposed to believe she was invincible at twenty, and here she was, letting a bunch of vampires as old as dirt run around and save the world while she hung around in the basement. She was a disgrace, that's what she was. A wuss. How disappointing to live for twenty years and only just now find out. Kaoru sighed again. She was doing a lot of sighing lately.

"Lead the way," she said, hoping she wouldn't trip and stab herself with the dagger. Her mom had always told her not to run around with scissors. Her roommate in college didn't even want her walking around with a toothbrush in her mouth. This was an excellent opportunity to prove to them she wasn't that clumsy.

Tsubame turned and ran lightly down the hallway.

Kaoru gathered herself together and started after the vampire. She sure was fast for her age. Kaoru jumped lightly over a sprawling dead body. No tripping. No tripping allowed.

**- **

**A/N – I have finally finished my sophomore year at JHU and my GPA is high enough to keep my scholarships. Boo-yah! I plan on finishing Silver Cross this summer. I can see the end now, which is saying a lot. This story is now three hundred something pages, single spaced, in Microsoft Word. I'm just grateful you've read this far.**

**Aryanne**


	24. Limbo

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**-**

**Silver Cross**

**-**

**Chapter 24 – Limbo**

**-**

_For some reason drinking water is more fun from a bottle.  
…You're right._

_-_

"I'm only doing this out of respect for the Juppongatana."

Ordinarily, Ken wouldn't have purposely started an argument, especially with Makoto Shishio. He would have preferred to kill the hunter on sight. But he was beginning to feel the stress. He was tired from his fights with Tsukayama and Anji, scared he wouldn't find Kaoru in time, pissed he had to protect Shishio, and nervous at the prospect of finally confronting the dark one. Plus, he had to walk up twenty flights of stairs. Ken was feeling a little high-strung.

Just a little.

Shishio snorted, following the vampire up the first flight of stairs. "You'd rather kill me, I suppose? On the beach you didn't want to attack me in front of the Kamiya girl. Now, it's the hunter-Juppongatana alliance preventing you. Nine years ago you let my own people punish me, no doubt hoping that would be worse."

"A misjudgment on my part," Ken said. From what he'd heard about the hunter, Shishio would choose this moment to try to get under his skin, just when emotional error on Ken's part could cost them all. "I should have handed you over to the Inshinshishi."

"The Inshinshishi are the most barbaric vampire group," Shishio remarked. He paused for a moment. Ken supposed he was thinking, or whatever passed for thinking in his twisted brain. "I can see you doing that."

Shishio was bringing back memories. He didn't need to remember right now. "You shouldn't have killed them," he couldn't help saying. He sounded like a resentful child, but he'd spoken the truth.

Second flight.

"Who?"

So Shishio wanted to get a rise out of him. He hated giving Shishio what he wanted. But Ken was already stressed, tired, scared, pissed, nervous, and high-strung. He couldn't help rising to meet the hunter's verbal challenge. But he couldn't lose control. He refused to lose control and start bickering with a hunter in a stairwell during the one of the most important power struggles of the twenty-first century.

Ken froze mid-stair and spun around to face Shishio. "I don't have time for mind games. Your nephew doesn't have time for mind games. Do not," he paused. Control. He was close to losing it. "Don't fuck with me, Shishio."

Three sentences. He'd already slipped up. Shishio was almost as good at bugging him as Saitou. Where the hell was Saitou? Ken didn't wait for Shishio's reaction, just turned around and continued up the stairs.

"Nine years ago," Shishio said as Ken had known he would, "I wouldn't have been able to see myself cooperating with vampires."

Ken didn't see much difference between Shishio-now and the Shishio-then.

Third flight.

"Nine years ago, I would have killed those girls again for helping you escape at the moment when I would have destroyed you, had you'd been alone. I would have killed them again and again and again." He paused. "Now I see I can't blame them. You helped them out, protected them. They'd only been turned a couple days when you found them, right? The smallest one told me before I killed her."

Ken didn't know their names. Three women had saved his live, sacrificed themselves for him, but he'd never known their names. It had been back when Ken was still on the run from the dark one's botched attempt at killing off the vampire leaders. There'd been many hunters, including Shishio, after him. He'd been more reckless during that period then he'd ever been when he was alive. He hadn't had one slow night since he'd gone on the run from the vampires who thought he'd betrayed them, and from the dark one's assassins. He'd been internally mourning for Sano, the one vampire whose death he had known would hit him hard if it ever occurred. He'd never expected it to. He'd known it was more than likely, as long as Sano worked for the Sekihoutai, but Ken had never expected Sano to die. Here one night, gone the next, and Ken hadn't felt anything when he'd passed. He hadn't known Sano wasn't alive anymore. He'd expected, after all he and Sano had been through, to at least feel something when Sano passed. Ken blamed himself for not feeling anything.

He'd been running from the hunters and the dark one's assassins, but three new vampires had found him first. They were three sisters, three young women, who'd just been turned. They'd sensed him, just as Sano had, sought him out, entreated him to stay and teach them how to survive. Ken had been on the verge of agreeing when a hunter had barged into that clearing in the forest, moonlight glazed across his silver sword. The four of them found themselves sudden allies. None of them were armed. The three girls had jumped in front of Ken, told the hunter he couldn't kill Ken because he was going to teach them how to survive and take them around the world.

The hunter had charged forward, somehow missing Ken, but hitting all three girls, while Ken stood there, knowing the contaminated skin that had touched the silver would poison the rest of their bodies. They were weak. They hadn't yet fed once since they'd been turned. If they had fed, they probably would have survived. The smallest girl had known. The other two had recovered enough to charge the hunter, some of the feral quality they'd inherited when they'd been turned coming out in their eyes for the first time. The smallest girl had begged him to leave with one look, hypnotized him. Ken still didn't know if she'd been better at it than Misao, or if his guard had been down. His body had moved away from the clearing, into the woods. He tried to return, but her influence over him remained, even as she turned towards the hunter to charge along with her sisters. Ken had found out later that the hunter was Makoto Shishio.

Ken left, sprinting through the forest. Their screams had followed him until her influence abruptly cut off, leaving him mid-stride.

Fourth flight.

It was ridiculous, a vampire as old as him, being controlled by an amateur.

"They only lasted a few days as vampires," Shishio continued, as if Ken hadn't known. "Their family was still looking for them. Their bodies were human enough for you to pin the blame on me. The police called it triple homicide. But you know that. I bet you didn't count on me pleading insanity."

He hadn't. But he'd hoped being sentenced to life in a mental hospital would be worse. He'd seen the pain on their parents faces the night they'd been told by the local police that their daughters were dead. There'd been a younger brother too.

"I had a lot of time to think," Shishio continued. "My mother visited me. She's the only one who does. My siblings know about vampires, but they were content to let me rot, some crap about not all vampires being menaces to society. The crazy thing is, at some point I began to see their point. I don't agree, but I can see why they don't hate all vampires. Those three girls wouldn't have turned out half-bad if they hadn't met you."

Fifth flight.

Ken stopped.

Shishio froze.

Stories above them, the door to the stairwell opened.

_- _

_So what are you going to name it?  
I don't know. You know any good bird names?  
I don't feel like thinking right now.  
I think I'll name it Batman._

_-_

A glimpse. A blur. Soujiro was down.

He wasn't what Sou was expecting. Sou had only seen him for a split second. Sou's eyes hadn't had time to focus before he and Myojin had been forced to their knees, heads held down by hostile vampires. The dark one didn't look any different from the other vampires. Then again, Sou couldn't often tell the difference between a vampire and a human until it was too late. If Shishio had ever planned on training him to be a hunter, Soujiro knew he was going to be a huge disappointment. He may have skill with a sword, but he'd hated killing those vampires, even though it had been in self-defense. Fear was the only thing that had motivated him in the library. He'd found out he wasn't quite ready to die yet, not by a long shot. If Myojin had initiated some crappy plan of self-sacrifice by instructing him to surrender, Sou was not going to be dragged down with him.

"Sir," Tsukayama said from directly in front of Soujiro, "we've captured Myojin and the nephew of the head hunter."

"Any sign of the Battousai?" the dark one asked. It must have been the dark one's voice, but hell, he sounded young. Sou had had a vision of a dark brooding crafty old man who liked to stand in shadowy corners and control everyone with blackmail. The ordinary looking young man Sou glimpsed was disappointing. Still, there was something unsettling about the dark one's voice. Sou was hyper-aware of the hairs on the back of his neck. God, was his life a cheesy horror flick?

"Security cameras caught him fighting Anji in the parking garage twenty minutes ago," Tsukayama reported, "before the cameras were destroyed by enemy vampires. One of our men thought he recognized a vampire Battousai came with. It may be Aoshi Shinomori."

"Our answer to that is right here," the dark one said, "in Myojin. I'm sure he knows. I wish we had more time to torture it out of him."

"Lady Myojin is somewhere in the building," Tsukayama continued, "as well as Saitou. Sir, I request permission to fight Myojin."

Sou felt his breath catch. If they fought now, thing didn't look good for Myojin. What did it matter if he beat Tsukayama? Myojin was no match for the dark one, and that bout would come next.

"Now is not the time. I know this is about your petty feud with him. I don't care to indulge anyone until the Battousai is dead." He paused. "Then, you may do what you will."

Sou let out an inaudible breath. Myojin would live a little longer then. But what about the Battousai's life? For Kaoru's sake, Soujiro hoped he was south of the border by now.

"I'll fight him," Myojin said loudly from his place beside Sou, his head bowed low. "It's better than waiting."

Silence.

"Let him stand," the dark one said.

Sou saw Myojin rise from the corner of his eye.

_- _

_Now that is disgusting.  
I can't believe she used her foot for a toilet plunger._

_-_

Tsubame was holding back. To evade all the vampires she must have in order to make it down to the basement level she had to be quicker than this. But she knew Kaoru couldn't keep up if she went all out, so she was holding back. Kaoru hated it when people held back for her. She hated it even more when she knew it was necessary.

Their sprint across the basement level had a strange, neurotic quality. Kaoru had never seen so many bodies in her life. She was used to seeing them one at a time, decked out in their Sunday best, still as the death they embodied, in a casket with plenty of nice flowers in the background and no smell hovering at all.

Here, there was definitely a smell. And the bodies were in her way. Sprawled across the hallway or slumped against the wall, they were in her way. Mostly the decomposing shells of vampires. The poison on Tsubame's blade must have been slow and powerful. It still ate the body long after its victim's death. Kaoru wondered what it did when it ran out of body.

Tsubame stopped after peering around the corner ahead of them and made her way silently back to Kaoru, pulling her slightly down a convenient side hallway. Kaoru's foot rested against the body of a dead male vampire. Thankfully, his face was masked. She was going to have serious issues once she got enough time to actually think about this.

"Kaoru, two male vampires are guarding the freight elevator," Tsubame informed her softly. "They'll sense your aura soon, if they haven't already. They'll be hard for me to dispatch alone. Can I count on you to survive against one while I kill the other?"

"I have martial arts training," Kaoru said. "How are they armed?"

"Silver swords, explicitly for killing vampires. You got your weapon off a guard for the prisoners. It won't do much but wound a vampire. So don't overly endanger yourself by trying to kill one of them. After they're dead, you can have one of the swords."

Kaoru nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just follow me and attack the second man. Keep him off my back." Tsubame turned to peer around the side of the hallway. "I sense their ki increasing a bit. They know we're here. Come before they pinpoint our location and we lose the element of surprise."

"Okay," Kaoru said softly, following the female vampire away from the side hallway, taking care not to trip over the body. She jogged after her, catching sight of the shuriken in Tsubame's hand. Kaoru raised her puny dagger and wished she was armed with a pouch of poison-coated shuriken. Not that it would help much since she'd never thrown one in her life.

The first three shuriken Tsubame threw had missed, Kaoru saw as she rounded the corner. But she looked more than capable of handling her man anyway. Kaoru met the second vampire's eyes. They widened in recognition. It was the man from Ayame's restaurant, the man who'd been in New York at Club Shinta. The one whose contact she would have been if things had turned out differently. The man who'd known she was a spy. He was just as he'd been when she'd served him in the restaurant, attractive, dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Kaoru now recognized the man Tsubame was fighting. He was the one with the insolent smirk who had physically met with and hired her, the one who'd called her a bitch before he'd left the restaurant. She couldn't decide if he deserved what was coming to him or if she was happy that Tsubame was going to kill him, but she wasn't overly opposed to his demise.

Knowing her prey made it a lot harder to attack. He seemed to be having the same problem. He stood frozen with a death grip on his silver sword. Abruptly and without word or warning, he melted, rushing toward her, sword ready to strike, as fluid as water.

_- _

_I need to be warm. So I'm thinking __Hawaii__ again.  
But you hate tropical animals.  
True, maybe a nice rainforest somewhere in __South America  
They have the giant spiders and the snakes.  
I'm tired of the desert! Why aren't there any warm places with no disgusting creatures from hell?  
Why are you looking at me as if I'm supposed to do something about it?_

_-_

"We can't make it all the way up without a disguise," Shishio stated the obvious as they stood in a convenient side hallway. Ken could hear the footsteps of the vampires he'd heard above them in the stairwell. They were descending warily. Five separate treads.

Shishio thrust the hilt of his katana into Ken's hand. "Hold this while I take care of them. Don't touch the blade. It has a high silver content."

Ken was not pleased to be ordered around by scum like Shishio. "What are you doing?" Did the hunter really expect to take down five vampires without his katana? Not that Ken had a problem with that. Let him fight. Come to think of it, things would be much easier if Shishio were defeated.

Shishio pulled three marble sized packets from one of the pockets of his pants. "These are an enhanced form of firecrackers. When I throw them down on the ground they'll give off enough artificial light to kill all the vampires in the immediate area." Shishio pulled out a pair of sunglasses. "They're also bright enough to temporarily blind any normal human. Even with the sunglasses and me covering my eyes, I might be blind for a few minutes. That's why hunters don't use these in combat, but we're working on developing a better way to protect the eyes."

If Shishio wasn't lying, then this was not good news. Useful, but definitely not good. What was stopping Shishio from 'accidentally' dropping one of those fake firecrackers while Ken was around? The fact that Shishio had a better chance of saving his nephew with Ken along. Could a man like Shishio really care about his nephew? Ken had his doubts.

"And you're telling me this secret because?" Ken asked.

Shishio placed the sunglasses over his eyes and turned away. "I honestly don't expect you to live, especially with the Kamiya girl captured." He moved away. "You'd better find a closet or something. Hiding around this corner won't save you. Light travels at 186,282 miles per second." Shishio started walking towards the stairwell door.

If Shishio hadn't had a valid point, Ken would have gone after him, but since the hunter did have a valid point, he was forced to find the closest and conveniently unlocked door. He got lucky on his first try, a dark empty office. Sensing no threat within the room, Ken entered and shut the door firmly. He pressed his ear to the door and heard the five vampires enter the fifth floor from the stairwell, sensing their energy force as well as the hunter's. He was forced to admit that killing the vampires with light would be more effective than a katana, and less messy. The bodies would disintegrate, leaving no blood behind to alert any of the dark one's patrols on the floor. All they'd have to do would be hide the clothes, assuming the fake firecrackers actually worked.

Ken was still wearing the suit he'd worn to the symphony and Shishio was decked out in stereotypical hunter garb. They were both too easily recognizable as enemies. Shishio's plan was to steal a couple uniforms from the enemy vampires so they could move easier within the building. He hadn't wanted to use katanas to acquire the uniforms because of the inevitable slash marks that would raise suspicion. Ken hoped one of the vampires was about his size. Fighting in clothing too big or two small could impair his technique.

He sensed their deaths, a swift passing, and then the warmth of the light flashing down the hallway. Even as far from the light's source as he was, the room still lightened to shades of gray and his skin tingled.

He made his way back to Shishio, treading firmly across the tile hallways so the man knew he was coming and didn't set off another of his fake firecrackers.

"That one was about your size," Shishio said, pointing to an empty set of clothes as Ken handed the hunter his katana.

They both changed quickly into the dark clothing, Shishio storing more of the firecrackers in the pockets of his new pair of pants.

Shishio broke the silence. "None of these shoes fit me."

Ken had the same problem. "Me either."

"Since I don't care about slashed clothing this time," Shishio started. "Are you fine using the katana?"

"I'd prefer to," Ken answered.

_- _

_The military is working on a stealth plane you can't see. It uses mirrors to blend into its surroundings.  
Oh, like one of those bugs that changes colors and blends into leaves and keeps changing colors when you put it in new places and always moves around real quiet until you notice it and then it's like whoa because you didn't know it was there because it's so quick at changing-  
Yes.  
They should call it the Leafy Bug._

_-_

He reminded her of one of her cousins, one of her favorite cousins even though he wasn't around much. Things were always so much more exciting when he was around. When was the last time she'd seen that cousin? Not since before she'd gone to college. He was busy and six years older than her and he had a job and a girlfriend and a whole other side to the family that he hung around more, that she wasn't part of. But she still loved her cousin, and that made it so much harder to strike at him, because he reminded her so much of her cousin. So much all of a sudden that she felt homesick, even though her cousin had been to her house one time in the past six years so she didn't associate him with home. But she still felt homesick, so homesick she could cry, so homesick she had to fight to control the tears as hard as she fought to stop him from killing her.

When this was over she was going to get Ken to take her home, and then she wouldn't leave Pennsylvania until she had to, not until she had to go back to college again in the fall. Because she didn't really need to go anywhere. She didn't really need this much excitement in her life to be happy, and the next time she saw someone different in the Akabeko she wasn't going try and be their friend. She wasn't going to go and meet strangers in the dark in abandoned apartment complexes. She wasn't going to do anything to put her in this much danger again. And she certainly wasn't going to drag innocents into it if she did, like she had with Soujiro. Right now she just wanted to go home. She hadn't felt like this since her first year of college, when she hadn't been home for her birthday and she hadn't had people who loved her around to celebrate it with her. She just wanted to go home, damnit, go home and just live and not have to worry about dying.

She tried to dodge, but couldn't, and was forced to stand there, his katana wedged against the hilt of her dagger. He was too strong, and in a moment he would overpower her and she would die looking into a face that looked so much like her cousin's they could be twins, they really could. She loved her cousin still. She loved her parents. She loved her grandparents. She loved all her relatives. She could feel herself breaking. She loved her friends. She loved Soujiro. Right now she loved Ayame, and Suzume, and Myojin. He really wasn't that bad, Myojin. Her arms started to tremble. She loved Kenshin.

She loved Kenshin. She loved Kenshin. She loved Kenshin. She wanted to see him. What kind of good-bye had that been? It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right!

"Unacceptable," she heard herself mutter.

He froze. He froze and fell back and she was falling with him because she'd been pushing so hard and in those moments when they were falling she watched his eyes and it wasn't his face. It was her cousin's face staring into hers, and she saw he was dying and it was almost too much. She'd come this far and it was almost too much when his face started to decay at the left ear and the wave of decay swept across his face in an instant because they were still falling, but it took minutes in their world. Minutes.

Minutes until the light left his eyes and they shriveled to nothing and then, dear God, she could see his skull and it was crumbling and he was all the way dead now, and she was glad because she knew he'd been alive when the decay had started at his ear. And she was still falling with him and when she did his katana was going to slip between her ribs because it was falling too and the dagger was useless because it wasn't big enough to push the katana away, even with him dead, it wasn't enough leverage.

Then she wasn't falling anymore, she was pulled back, but so slowly. He was falling away from her, the man with the ruined face that reminded her of her cousin. They were an inch apart, and widening now and his bone was crumbling fast, but not fast enough because everything was still in slow motion and she could see it happening and she hadn't even blinked yet, hadn't had time to blink because it was all too fast, but so slow. And she couldn't bare it any longer so she closed her eyes and was seeing him even as her lids were shutting, even as the distance between them widened and the 'k' sound of her name escaped Tsubame's lips. But she couldn't shut them fast enough because his whole skull was gone before she didn't have to see anymore. But she could live with that because as soon as she shut her eyes time was right again and she heard the 'aoru' that was the rest of her name in a sharp, split second and felt Tsubame turn her so she wasn't facing the decomposing body even as she pulled her up to a standing position.

"No major wounds, right?" Tsubame asked as Kaoru opened her eyes.

Kaoru shook her head.

"Good. Ditch the dagger. You're a katana girl now." Tsubame offered a shiny katana, hilt first.

She was still clutching the dagger. Time slipped past because Kaoru didn't feel her hand release the dagger. Her hand was just empty, so she took the katana.

"Come on, let's get to the service elevator." Tsubame walked away.

Kaoru followed. If that was what she had to go through to see Kenshin one more time, she welcomed it.

_- _

_Giant piles of laundry depress me. How high is mine now?  
Four feet.  
Just shoot me._

_-_

"This one had my size," the hunter informed him. Shishio kicked off his shoes and replaced them with those of the decomposing vampire at his feet. They were on the sixth floor. They wouldn't make to the top floor, where Ken sensed the presence of the dark one, unless plan B worked.

Shishio held the right shoe upside down to get rid of the dust that used to be the vampire's foot. Satisfied, he slid his own in.

Shoe shopping with the hunter he hated most. Great.

_- _

_You know, when you want something real bad and you aren't getting it, I've come to realize it all depends on one question. How stubborn are you? I wonder how stubborn I am._

_-_

"I appreciate the fact that you'd like to entertain me, Myojin, but I'd rather wait. What's a half an hour when I've been waiting this long?"

Soujiro heard one of the double doors open behind him. "Sir," a new voice spoke, "two women are attempting to make their way up via the service elevator. One human, one vampire."

"The human is Kaoru Kamiya. The vampire is most likely Tsubame Myojin or Misao Shinomori." The dark one sounded pleased. "Give them just enough trouble so the lady vampire isn't suspicious, but let them make their way here eventually. Kamiya's a valuable tool. She stays alive. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

The door whispered shut across the carpet. Soujiro had thought Kaoru was back safe at the apartment where he and Tsubame had dropped her off. He'd hoped. But somehow he'd known. If Kaoru was coming, that meant she probably thought the Battousai was up here. Or maybe, if it was Tsubame with her, Tsubame had told her about his and Myojin's capture. She'd come then too. Either way, the Battousai was in the building. This was it, Sou knew. Something was about to blow up in his face.

_- _

_Stop at the gas station so I can pick up some gum, will you?  
But we don't need gas. The tanks almost full.  
I told you, gum.  
But I don't like going to the gas station if it's not for gas.  
What?  
There's too much activity and everyone's backing out of their parking spaces at the same time and all the people getting gas are crossing the street to pay.  
You have a gas station phobia?  
I don't, per se. I just don't like it._

_- _

Seventh floor.

"Do you sense a patrol yet?"

"Shut up," Ken warned the hunter. "You're breaking my concentration and you're supposed to be my prisoner."

"I'm getting my katana back after this is over," Shishio mumbled darkly. They'd had to stash it in a closet so Shishio would appear to be unarmed. He had his fake firecrackers and whatever weapons weren't metal stashed somewhere on his person. Ken finally sensed a patrol coming their way.

"Eight of them," Ken told Shishio. "The scout will run into us first. The rest are twenty seconds behind."

Shishio nodded and wiped his bleeding lip. Ken had enjoyed punching him a few times to make the hunter look as if he'd lost a fight.

Ken held his sword against Shishio's throat as he stood beside the hunter in the middle of the hallway and waited.

The scout slid around the corner of the hallway, freezing when he spotted them. He let out a low whistle of warning.

"Damn, it's about time a patrol came by," Ken said to the scout, annoyed.

"Who are you?"

"A soldier," Ken answered. "I captured this hunter trying to infiltrate the ranks of my patrol. Because he's wearing the standard uniform, my patrol was caught off guard long enough for him to kill three men before we had time to react."

"You know the rules. No prisoners."

"He'd be dead, but I found out he's Makoto Shishio. I thought the dark one would want the chance to meet him before that happens."

The scout stared harder, as if he could know whether Ken was telling the truth if he stared hard enough. Ken watched. He'd learned long before how to lie convincingly. From the scout's aura, Ken knew the vampire was at least forty years younger than him, and in the vampire world, age was a definite advantage. He wouldn't be able to see through Ken's lie.

The scout let out another low whistle and the other seven members of the patrol arrived. Ken pretended to focus on keeping control of his prisoner, while the vampires discussed his credibility.

"I knew all vampires were idiots," Shishio suddenly yelled in the direction of the patrol. "The hunters will eradicate your entire species."

Ken jabbed him in the stomach with the hilt of his katana, knocking the wind out of the hunter. "Shut up," he told him mildly.

"We'll take you to the dark one," the scout finally spoke for the patrol. "Are you sure the human is Shishio?"

"Yes," Ken affirmed, steering Shishio towards the patrol. "I've run into him before and barely escaped with my life. Revenge is sweet."

Shishio remained silent as they joined the patrol. Two vampires took Shishio away from Ken and they all proceeded down the hallway towards the central elevators. Ken knew the only reason they hadn't killed him and taken the credit for capturing Shishio themselves was that they weren't absolutely sure he was on their side. He hadn't offered to show them the dark one's mark on his wrist, which had probably made them suspicious. But they couldn't asked to see it because them they'd risk offending Ken if his prisoner really was Shishio. Then he might wait for another patrol to come along and someone else would get the credit.

Ken was about make a comment when he felt Kaoru's aura close by. She was somewhere in the building. If she was free, she'd be making her way to the dark one. If she wasn't, she was probably being taken to the dark one. Either way, he had to get there before her, kill the dark one before she got to him. What did she plan to do once she found the dark one anyway? There wasn't even the slightest chance that she could kill it, hurt it, or stop it in any way, assuming she wasn't captured. Ken was a realist. He had to go on the assumption that she was captured, that she was being used by the dark one, even if she didn't know it herself.

_- _

_What did you put in this?  
What? Do you have a problem with it? You were the one that wanted to eat food. You didn't have to ask me to cook.  
I thought you'd make something good, not hamburger casserole.  
It tastes good.  
It's alright. But did you have to put this crunchy thing in?  
It's a water chestnut.  
I don't like water things.  
It doesn't even taste like anything.  
But it's crunchy. If it crunches, it should taste like something, but it doesn't. That's creepy. I'm not eating it._

_- _

He'd never thought being in the presence of the dark one could be so boring. Nothing happened. No one was doing anything. He was getting tired of sitting against the wall with his head down. He and Myojin had been moved to a side wall, cast aside until they were useful again probably. After the dark one refused to let Tsukayama and Myojin fight, he'd lost interest in them. The big room was silent except when the double doors opened and a soldier reported on the status of the building. Sou had listened, but none of the reports had anything to do with Kaoru and Tsubame, or the dark one. There was hope in the reports though; all three of the basement levels and the parking garage were under Juppongatana control.

Not much hope.

Beside him, Myojin was shaking. Sou knew it was because of the dark one's aura. He could feel it himself, and if he dwelled on the feeling, it threatened to paralyze him. It must be much worse for vampires. Perhaps that was half the reason some vampires joined the dark one, to stop feeling like this, cold and hot at the same time. And afraid. Afraid of dying, with death sitting there calmly, right across the room. Death happens slowly. It won't matter if it happens fast, because you'll feel it slow. And while you're feeling it, you'll see other people dying too, your mom or your sister or your girlfriend or your best friend. Their mouths are open, but they won't be screaming because you can't hear anything when you're dying. You can't taste anything but spit. You can't feel anything but pain. You can't smell anything but sweat. You can only see their face, all their faces, and know that you are the reason they're dying. And you can never die before them because you have to see the moment when their soul leaves them, and then, because death is so horrible, their soul dies too. It's a horrible thing, the death of a soul, and you just killed one. And then, finally, you can die and it's great because you want to die, because it's too much for you to handle. You really want to die. And then you do, and it doesn't help. It really doesn't help since you're soul's still alive. Hell is watching them die over and over.

Soujiro was shaking.

_- _

_You're turning into a health food nut. I thought that only happened to other people and in books or on tv. I never thought it would happen to someone I know.  
Relax. I'm not turning into a health food nut.  
Then do you really expect me to eat soynuts?  
Yes. So?  
What happened to peanuts or sunflower seeds?  
These taste good too.  
They crunch weird and they taste like popcorn kernels that were cooked but never popped.  
No they don't.  
And they look like beetle eggs._

_- _

"Tsubame," Kaoru said as the elevator doors closed on the tenth floor. "We're going to make it to the top."

The elevator stopped at every floor. Every floor someone died so they could go on. Tsubame killed efficiently. Kaoru stayed alive. They were both breathing hard.

"I know," Tsubame answered. "The number of guards on each floor is going to increase the closer we get to the dark one. I could kill them quickly, but they sense you Kaoru. I'm going to put you under hypnosis to dull your aura. I'll wake you when we get to the top. Sit down in the corner."

Kaoru trusted Tsubame now, so she moved to the corner and sat, the hilt of the katana held in a loose grip. She let the weapon drop against the carpet of the elevator. "Sorry, Tsubame."

The vampire smiled briefly. "You're not a burden, Kaoru. Meet my eyes directly."

Brown eyes. Warm, desperate, cautious, determined, deadly, sad, kind brown eyes. Missing him. Tsubame was missing him, her husband. She wanted to see him again, once more, just so she could be content, so she could let go if she had to. Her life for his if she had to. She didn't want to die first.

That's love, Kaoru thought as she drifted away into herself, following her aura.

That's love.

_- _

_What are you doing?  
Bouncing.  
What?  
Are you blind? I'm bouncing.  
Vampires don't bounce.  
They do on trampolines. Live a little, will you?_

_-_

Kaoru's aura was a like a light. At some point since he'd met her, he'd gotten used to it burning always in the back of his mind. Ken hadn't sensed Sano's aura go out when his friend died. He'd sensed it was gone only when he'd been told Sano was dead.

This time, he felt Kaoru's aura go, like he'd felt the absence of the auras of the three women who'd perished nine years ago. Kaoru's aura died gradually, somewhere near him, but still too far away, until he couldn't sense her any longer.

He wanted to believe she was asleep. But even in her sleep he could feel her, and her aura fluctuated as she dreamt. He didn't feel anything now.

He didn't know what to feel. He didn't know if he could accept her death.

"You sense something wrong?" It was the scout vampire, staring at him intently. He was still suspicious.

"No. I haven't felt the dark one's presence in a while." Ken paused. "I'd forgotten how it affected me."

The scout's posture relaxed a little. "His power is unrivaled," he remarked.

_ding_

"This is the floor, hunter," one of the patrol vampires said to Shishio. "You'll get what you deserve soon."

The elevator doors opened on the long hallway of a business floor. The dark one's aura washed over them, a dull ache that invaded his whole head. It would only get worse. An empty secretary's desk stood to one side, by a potted palm tree. The patrol of eight, the hunter, and Ken exited the elevator. The doors slid shut behind them.

"Why are you all up here?" The vampire stood blocking the way down the hallway. Ken could see behind him, to a couple dozen vampires standing at attention along the hallway, enforcement for the dark one.

The scout, their unanimously elected public speaker, spoke, "We've captured an enemy leader, sir. The hunter, Shishio."

The vampire frowned. "Orders were no prisoners. Patrols are not to stop and ask the enemy's name." He surveyed the group. "Why are there nine patrolmen in this unit?"

The scout inclined his head in Ken's direction. "I'm the scout for my patrol. I came across the prisoner and this vampire. The rest of his patrol was killed."

The vampire frowned at Ken. "I haven't received word of the decimation of a patrol."

Ken had hoped the scout would be able to do all the talking. He could barely string two thoughts together worrying about Kaoru. But he wouldn't fall apart now, not when he was so close, the closest he'd ever get.

"It happened in the parking garage. I followed the hunter all the way to the seventh floor before I was able to capture him. I asked who he was, so I would know the name of the human who killed my patrol. When I found out, I knew the dark one would avenge those vampires in a manner more superior than mine. I decided to take the hunter up here. Then the patrol found us."

"How did you both manage to make it all the way to the seventh floor without running into a patrol?"

"He easily avoided all vampires we came across," Ken answered, "and I didn't want a patrol to get in my way, so I stayed silent as well."

"You disobeyed orders. For your sake, I hope the dark one sees the situation in your favor." The vampire decided. "You may take the hunter and proceed ahead." The two vampires that held Shishio's arm let him go and pushed him in front of the group. The vampire giving out the orders kept his sword trained on the silent hunter.

"What about the rest of us?" the scout asked.

"Patrol number?" the vampire asked.

"Twenty-eight."

"I'll see to it you're rewarded. Go back to your positions."

The patrol nodded and one of them pressed the down button on the elevator. It opened immediately and they filed back in.

"Good luck," the scout said to Ken as the doors slid shut.

The other vampire was murmuring into his radio. He gestured to Shishio with his sword and Ken took over control of the hunter. Shishio didn't look so good. The dark one's aura was affecting him as well.

"Didn't I tell you to go down the hallway?" the vampire paused murmuring into the radio long enough to say.

Ken snapped out of whatever daze he'd been in and allowed himself to feel a little anticipation. Even though things didn't look good for Kaoru, he refused to believe she was dead. He'd been looking forward to this moment for ten years. He would perform accordingly.

"Let's go, Shishio," he heard himself order the hunter. Ten years and Sano's memory propelled him down the hallway, past the curious eyes of the dark one's soldiers. Ten years and Kaoru's memory, and he followed Shishio around the corner. The hunter tensed. He was steeling his body against the dark one. There, finally, were the double doors ahead of them. It felt like he'd dreamed this before because he recognized this place, this feeling. He had started to feel again then.

"The dark one is ready to see you now," one of the vampires at the double doors informed them. He opened the door on the right and Ken steered Shishio in ahead of him. The wave of power washed over him, almost drowned him. The force of it almost knocked him over, but he'd felt this before and he knew how to fight it. Shishio was still, as if he'd gone into shock. His pulse increased but beat weakly, and his breath sounded fast and shallow. The door shut behind them.

Ken was aware of Myojin first. In that room full of the dark one's aura and those tainted by it, Myojin was the only vampire with a normal aura. A little normality was an anchor in the face of that presence. But Myojin was shaking and his aura was dull. He was using it to hide inside himself, and it was wearing away.

Ken turned his head to Myojin and saw Soujiro Seta. Shishio's nephew was here then. He was sitting on the floor next to Myojin, back against the wall, head down, arms hugging his legs close, shaking. Ken pushed Shishio towards him and watched as the hunter ran to his nephew. He dropped to his knees in front of the boy and hugged him. Ken had underestimated Shishio's capacity to feel then. He hadn't thought the man cared for his nephew. Soujiro didn't respond to his uncle's presence in any way. His head stayed down.

Ken stared down at his katana. In a second he would look up and he would see the guise the dark one was wearing. He would make him pay for Sano's death.

"I've been waiting, Battousai."

**- **

**A/N – All this action is making me want to write fluff. Never fear, I shall ensure that the story is equipped with a suitably twisted plot. I can't let the ending of the story be predictable, can I?**

**Aryanne**


	25. Remember

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Star Trek or ****Jurassic****Park****. But I got a new cell phone.**

**-**

**Silver Cross**

**-**

**Chapter 25 – Remember**

**-**

_Hey, won't you at least go in and pay for the gas?  
No. You're the driver.  
But we'd get out of here quicker.  
I'm just a passenger.  
I'll give you the gas money, if that's what you're worried about.  
Nope. I'd rather just sit here.  
But there are giant bugs that keep landing on me.  
You shouldn't have worn a white shirt._

-

It's voice. It was playing tricks with his mind. How had it gotten into his mind so easily? He guarded himself better than that, better than most vampires, but it had still gotten in. His mind was being used against him, because its voice was impossible.

"Let me do it." Akira's hard voice entered Ken's mind from the left. "Let me kill the Battousai."

"Tomoe obviously didn't teach you who and who not to respect," the impossible voice said as it drew close to Ken. "Shut up."

"But she died," Akira protested mutely. He'd lost the will for revenge already. The dark one had stolen it from him.

"Tomoe said she forgives you," Ken told him, before he forgot to carry out Tomoe's last request. The force of the dark one's aura pressed down on him.

"It wasn't in her to forgive," Akira said quietly. "Did she damn me in the end?"

_"Akira? I bet he didn't check your license plate number, stupid boy. Tell him I forgive him when you see him." She sighed, her exhaling breath a gentle puff of searing air on his skin._

"No." Ken replied. He wished he could say her last breath had been for Akira. But in the midst of the dark one's aura, the memory came back unbidden.

_"Who betrayed Sano to the dark one? Why are you working for him? How long will he stay in __L.A.__?"_

_"They'll be here in ten minutes," Tomoe whispered. "Go." Her whole body writhed in his hands as she suppressed a bought of coughing. "It has something you want. Don't fight tonight."_

Her last breath had been for him, not Akira. Ken found the strength to lift his head and meet Akira's eyes. Akira was changed, sunken into himself. The night Tomoe died, he'd been fueled by the desire to protect her. After she'd died, revenge was probably the only reason he still lived. Ken knew that story. And the dark one had taken revenge from him.

"I told you to shut up, Akira," the impossible voice said.

The pain intensified. Ken's head was forced down again. From the corner, Myojin let out a low moan. There was nothing but a low grunt from Shishio and silence from his nephew. A drop of blood dripped on the floor to Ken's left. Akira. Ken forced his head up enough to glimpse the vampire from the corner of his eye. Blood came from his ears. A drop. The carpet was stained. A trickle. A stream. A stream of blood fell from his ears as he crumpled to the floor. The carpet was ruined.

The pain lifted. Not all the way. Enough for Ken to look up. Enough for Ken to see the face of the dark one in front of him.

The dark one's aura was strong, but surely not strong enough to make him hallucinate. It couldn't be enough to make him see the face of his best friend from this second life he was living. It couldn't be enough to make him see Sano standing in front of him.

_ -  
_

_I don't know if that's such a good idea, Ken.  
It's your fault. If a human's a drug user, you know it's in their bloodstream as well.  
What can I say? I'm a sucker for a pretty face. You better drive.  
Damn right I'm driving, it's my car. And if you puke all over it I will not be happy.  
Can I get a bucket or something?_

-

She floated. Low at first, then high through the air. Faster, the higher up she got. She couldn't see where she was floating. Her eyes were closed. But it didn't matter, because she could see the sun through her closed lids. She was hurling towards the sun now, and she felt hot with fever. But she wasn't afraid. Floating towards the sun wasn't that bad. Just as the light grew so bright it was as if her eyes were open anyway, they were open.

She was sitting slumped on the carpeted elevator floor, her head tilted up to the lights on the ceiling. People were staring down at her, faces adorned with weak smiles.

"I thought you weren't going to come out for a minute there," Tsubame said, holding her hand in front of Kaoru.

"What?" Kaoru automatically grasped the vampire's hand and was promptly hauled to her feet. She remembered now, that Tsubame had put her under hypnosis to dull her aura, but had all these people been there at the time?

The vampire who was even colder then Ken at his worst moments, Aoshi Shinomori, nodded to her from where he stood in the elevator doorway, loosely holding two kodachi. Didn't he live in New York City? How could he be here now? Where was Misao? Saitou stood facing away from her on the other side of the doorway, presumably guarding it, since he held a katana in a defensive stance. She wasn't too surprised to see him, since she was in Juppongatana headquarters. She was surprised to see the third vampire, the woman who'd kidnapped her from the apartment in Aliso village. She was clutching something in her left hand, but if it was a weapon, it was her only tool of defense.

"This is Yumi," Aoshi explained. Not much of an explanation.

Yumi nodded to Kaoru as well, dipping her head so low that a shock of brown hair covered her left eye. The rest of her hair was tied in the same messy bun, and her mouth was still green with lipstick.

"She attacked me in my apartment," Kaoru accused, knowing she was missing something. Yumi worked for the dark one. Saitou at least, should have killed her by now. And Kaoru had the impression that Aoshi Shinomori was the 'kill first, ask questions later' type as well.

"I was obeying orders," Yumi said. "But I'm on your side."

Seeing the doubt in Kaoru's eyes, Tsubame spoke. "It's true, Kaoru. Yumi used to openly work for the Juppongatana under me, as an integral part of our chemistry lab. Trust her tonight."

"There's no time for explanations," Saitou cut in. "Jam the radios, Shinomori."

Aoshi seemed annoyed that Saitou had given him an order, but he took out a black electrical device and began pressing buttons.

"We're going down the hallway to where the dark one is," Tsubame explained to Kaoru, disregarding Saitou's words. "Shinomori and Saitou will be first, cutting their way through the vampires guarding the hall. Yumi is unarmed. You and I will walk on either side of her. We must get her safely into that room. Do you understand?"

Kaoru didn't understand why Yumi's presence was so vital, but she nodded anyway. It sounded like the woman was some sort of double agent. Kaoru picked up her katana from the floor where she must have dropped it when she'd gone under hypnosis.

"It's my discovery," Yumi explained. "It's the key to everything." Her eyes were full of hope.

Tsubame was silent. Kaoru had the impression she didn't approve of whatever Yumi had discovered. But it had to be important if they were all about to sacrifice their lives to get Yumi in the same room with the dark one.

"Is Ken there too?" Kaoru asked.

"I sense his presence," Aoshi said, placing the black rectangular box in a convenient potted plant so that the plant's leaves blocked it from view. "Let's go now. Ladies, stay fifteen feet behind us at all times."

He and Saitou moved as one silent wraith around the corner and started down the hallway.

Kaoru felt like she was in one of those movies where the team of secret operatives infiltrate a terrorist organization. Everybody knew the operatives with no name or speaking roles always died. Just like the men from Start Trek who went with the captain to an enemy planet and didn't have names. Just like everyone in Jurassic Park who wasn't on the good side got eaten by the dinosaurs. It was always the unimportant ones that bit the big one. She hoped she had a speaking role in the drama that was about to play out.

Speaking role or not, she stood on Yumi's left as Tsubame took up post on Yumi's right side. Kaoru turned the corner first. Aoshi and Saitou were being mobbed a little ways down the hallway, but they looked fully capable of handling the situation. She waited for Yumi and Tsubame to join her, and they walked down the hallway slowly. Tsubame was the only one of them with a long distance weapon, so she helped out here and there with a shuriken when there wasn't any danger of hitting Aoshi or Saitou. Kaoru glanced behind them periodically, to be sure no one appeared in pursuit at their rear. Looking behind was a relief compared to the carnage being carried out ahead. Aoshi and Saitou worked together all too well.

Yup, she was going to have serious emotional problems after this was all over. Too much blood. Too many fangs. Too much death. She looked at the bodies they passed only to be sure they didn't pose a threat, which meant she had to look at each one. The fact that they were the bodies of vampires didn't help. It only meant they were various forms of disgusting. Aoshi's weapon must have been coated in a fast acting poison, because those bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition, withering away like the vampire who'd almost defeated her, the one who had looked like her cousin. The vampires struck with Saitou's blade were dead or about to be. It was like Saitou to give them a slow death, probably so he could interrogate them. The few vampires Tsubame killed were simply dead. Kaoru had a feeling Tsubame was finally running out of shuriken, and had to pick and choose her kills wisely. She had chosen carefully before, but now she didn't kill unless Aoshi or Saitou was in danger of receiving a bad wound.

Aoshi and Saitou stopped just beyond a set of double doors and let the rest of the vampires come to them instead of plunging into the enemy.

"He's in there," Yumi said. She'd been excited the whole time, as if the death around her had not touched her, not affected her in any way. Kaoru decided Yumi had been waiting a long time to test her discovery, and she knew it was complete. Her joy and anticipation triumphed over any other emotion she might have felt. Her smile was soft and radiant. She was so different from the smug woman who'd attacked her in the apartment that Kaoru found she could give her another chance. In fact, she had already given her another chance, and she kind of liked her. In any case, it felt right to guard her.

"Kaoru first, then Yumi, then me," Tsubame yelled over the sound of fighting and dying. "Shinomori and Saitou will guard the door."

_- _

_Do you like piña colada?  
No.  
Do you like mango madness?  
Juice?  
Yeah.  
Yeah.  
Do you like sex on the beach?  
The drink or the sex?  
Which ever question.  
Yeah.  
Um.__ You know I'm not gay, right?  
You're the one who asked if I like sex on the beach. I should be asking you that.  
Then why didn't you?_

-

"Soujiro, you can't keep doing this," Kaoru said. "You can't keep one person all to yourself. You'll feel like a babysitter."

"It's only until I get it together," Sou replied, breathing in the scent of her hair as he held her.

"You can't get it together like this," Kaoru said, leaning into his chest, because this Kaoru still loved him. "What's wrong, Sou?"

This Kaoru didn't know that she was what's wrong. What would she do if he told her? This Kaoru didn't know about the Battousai, had never met the man, wouldn't leave Soujiro.

"Tell me, Sou," she pleaded, pulling back a little to look up into his face. This Kaoru felt miserable when he was sad, ecstatic when he was happy, just as in love with him as he was with her. Was it so selfish of him to want this Kaoru?

"The Battousai," Soujiro finally said.

"What's that? A new TV show?" Kaoru asked, confused.

This was how it should have been, Kaoru not knowing about the vampire who'd changed both their lives. Sou almost smiled.

"No, a man," Soujiro corrected her gently. "Your Ken."

"I don't understand."

"His name is Kenshin Himura, the Battousai."

"You mean he has a title? What's a Battousai?"

"It means 'Master of Sword Drawing'."

Kaoru grinned. "I see. Is he better at kendo than you? Are you jealous or something? You don't ever have to be jealous, Sou."

"I know," Sou lied to himself. It was better not to tell her, not to ruin it.

"Is it really a guy who's got you so worked up? I haven't even met him. You don't have anything to worry about." Kaoru laughed and hugged him closer. "You're such a drama queen," she teased.

This Kaoru was happy. Her biggest concern was getting good enough grades to keep her scholarship, not surviving in the midst of vampires and hunters who killed each other to get what they wanted. This Kaoru had no clue vampires existed. This Kaoru wouldn't believe it if he told her they did.

This Kaoru was a fabulous dream.

_- _

_Mirror mirror on the wall. Who's the sexiest one of all?  
Um.  
Ken!  
I think I walked in at the wrong time. Excuse me._

-

"He's not dead," the thing with Sano's voice and Sano's body said to Ken. "He could've been, but I stopped just before."

Brain damage. Akira was better off dead. It would heal, but not for months. Akira wouldn't live unless another vampire took care of him for those months, waited on him hand and foot, talked to him, brought him blood, bathed him, stimulated his neural pathways to reconnect again. If he didn't have someone like that, he'd die from lack of blood. Or a hunter. Or the sun. He wasn't capable of taking care of himself. Tomoe would have taken care of him.

"I'm going to kill you," Ken said to the illusion. Perhaps the dark one had gained a new power. Maybe now everyone saw it differently, as the person for whose death they felt responsible, as the person who killing would be a personal hell on earth. He raised his katana in an offensive stance.

"No. I'm going to kill you," the dark one replied, raising its katana. It darted forward.

For a moment Ken couldn't defend himself, because it was Sano darting towards him, although as far as he knew Sano had never used a katana. In just over a hundred years with him, Ken had never known Sano to show the slightest curiosity in them. But maybe Sano had picked up the skill in the twelve years he'd been with the Sekihoutai.

It was just a moment. The moment was over by the time the dark one was within striking distance, so Ken blocked the high blow that had been aimed at his neck. The impact of the block pushed him, sliding, back a couple inches against his will, but Ken's strength held, even under the force of the dark one's presence. So he pushed back and for another moment he was staring into Sano's eyes. Furious eyes, cold as Sano's had rarely been, haunted eyes. If it was all in his mind, how could he have dreamt up these angry haunted eyes? They looked too out of place to be in the face of his best friend.

But it was just a moment again. They jumped away from each other and he wasn't close enough to see the emotions in the dark one's eyes.

_- _

_Don't you remember?  
No.  
I was sad because we couldn't get a dog, so I got a pet crayfish, but it died and I buried in the yard underneath the pine trees.  
What pine trees?  
You know, the pine trees on the side of the house.  
There were no pine trees. That was a giant bush to separate the yards.  
A giant bush?  
Yes.  
Are you sure it was just a bush?  
Yes.  
That's not nearly as cool as pine trees._

-

Kaoru would never have guessed the sight that greeted her as she darted inside the double doors in a million years. She'd expected Ken to be winning, but a man had Ken pinned to the ground. At first, she thought it was Sagara from the cell, but this man was different. He took his eyes away from Ken's when he heard the door open and their eyes met. Yes, he was different. His eyes held an expression much harder than Sagara was capable of, and he held himself differently, more erect. He obviously wasn't nearly as sick as Sagara. Perhaps, before he'd gotten sick, Sagara had looked like this, radiated this much power, but never this much coldness.

Ken took advantage of the distraction she'd caused and somehow shoved the man off of him, managed to retreat a good ten feet before the Sagara look-alike looked ready to attack again.

"Kenshin." Kaoru let his name burst from her mouth. She'd finally made it to him. There was nothing else to say. He didn't take his eyes off his enemy. It disappointed her, although she was happy he hadn't. She didn't want to be responsible for his death.

"Its aura is too strong for me to sense you. I didn't know where you were," Ken answered, his voice devoid of emotion.

"That's the dark one," Yumi said in her ear, taking Kaoru's elbow with her free right hand, the one that did not grip the discovery she held in her left. "Get the Battousai away from him. I need him to show the world my discovery."

Kaoru didn't know which 'him' Yumi was talking about.

"Yumi, there has to be another way," Tsubame said quietly as she shut the door behind them.

"You know there's not," Yumi said angrily. "Kill the guards before the aura affects you any more than it has."

One of them was already dead. Kaoru noticed this with a wince as Tsubame let another shuriken fly towards its mark. Chaos erupted as the ten or so guards still alive in the room reacted by attacking Tsubame simultaneously. Kaoru watched as Kenshin used the distraction to confront the dark one. She didn't have time to try to split the two men apart then, because she was forced to focus on protecting Yumi from a couple guards who'd decided to go for Tsubame through Yumi and Kaoru. She was shocked at the lack of emotion in her when she defended Yumi by mortally wounding the two vampires. For the first time, Kaoru knew she didn't want to remember this.

_- _

_I'm not even going to ask what you're doing.  
There was a squished lightening bug in my sandal, so I used this stick to get it out.  
Why not your finger?  
It was squished in the side. I'd have had to get it out with my fingernail. I'm not scraping dead bug from underneath my fingernail._

-

In the way he sometimes did, Soujiro knew he was in a dream, but he also felt that what happened now, in this dream, had happened before, or might have.The starry night loomed outside the window, late last summer. He lay on his bed at home, flat on his back, and Kaoru lay beside him, talking. He couldn't understand what she was saying, couldn't pick out any individual words. She might have been speaking a different language, the sound of her voice pleasant as he let it wash over him.

He bought his first television this night last summer, a thirty-two inch Panasonic flatscreen. He'd brought it home earlier this afternoon and invited Kaoru over to share his first evening of quality programming. They'd had a late lunch with his parents and his sister and then gone upstairs to his room with plenty of snacks to enhance the television-viewing experience. They'd watched a little of everything: the last half hour of a comedy, an hour of HG-TV at Kaoru's request, a couple cartoons, an action flick. By the time night had fallen, they'd both gotten sick of commercials, so Sou had stuck a movie in. Kaoru had turned down the volume and taken a bathroom break five minutes into the movie. When she'd come back, he hadn't bothered to turn it back up, she'd started talking, and now he was lying here, listening to her.

Kaoru used hand movements when she talked. Even now, lying on her back, her hands were in the air, weaving patterns that reflected the words coming out of her mouth. Sou thought she liked the sight of her shadowed hands against the white ceiling. Kaoru loved contrast. Light-dark, sharp-smooth, pastel pink and black. He knew, if she didn't, that she liked opposites next to each other. She even liked contrast in people; subconsciously, this was how she chose her friends: demure-looking with fierce tempers, innocent pyromaniacs, successful with no self-confidence, smart but naïve, small but full of attitude, big and bashful, geeky and passionate. And Sou, too, was a contrast: smiling and full of the anger he vented through kendo, responsible only because he wrote down all his obligations on post-it notes, which he crumpled in his fist and threw away when he fulfilled those obligations. Even now his room was scattered with them, notes reminding him to send his friend from middle school the birthday present he'd bought, to make an appointment with his mom's optometrist, to buy that new pair of shoes he needed, to meet his friends at the movie theater, to call his cousin from Arizona.

Kaoru had laughed when she'd discovered this contrast, the first time she'd visited his dorm room in college. She'd been delighted when she'd seen the same spread of post-it notes the first time she'd visited him at his home. She still smiled every time she entered his room. The contrast between the randomly placed yellow notes and the otherwise neat room attracted her.

"I think I'll leave after the movie's over." Kaoru's words penetrated his thoughts. Her hands rested down at her sides now. She'd sensed his quiet mood and stopped talking.

"Alright," Soujiro agreed. He listened to the sounds of the television. The evil mastermind was currently revealing his diabolical plan to take over the world to the movie's main character. It was still nice, lying here with Kaoru's head against his shoulder, years of life ahead of both of them. Yes, it was a nice dream. Sou had the sense that the world didn't exist outside his bedroom, that once Kaoru opened the door to leave his room she'd be leaving into a world forever changed and alien from the one they resided in now.

What a dream this was. He could stay in this dream forever. Literally. He didn't have to think hard, only to drift along in and out of Kaoru's presence. He could forget what would happen a little less than a year after this point in his life, what had already happened.

Kaoru must be drawn to the contrast in the Battousai. His appearance was full of light colors, tans and reds and ambers, his eyes exotic in a way Soujiro knew Kaoru found attractive. Compare that light with the dark the vampire resided in. The Battousai's hair was too red, his gaze too intense, but just look at the contrast in that intensity: when he looked at Kaoru and when he looked at everyone else. And all you had to do was look to see the contrast. The purpose emanating from the Battousai made Sou feel the same as if he stood in the jungle with a wild tiger staring into his eyes, knowing it meant to kill him, but the Battousai was gentle in the truest sense of the word. Sou had seen him kiss Kaoru on the beach, before he'd known who they were.

It had thrown Sou off, seeing the vampire around Kaoru. It made him bitter that the man changed for Kaoru without either of them knowing it, and then she went and changed for him too. Soujiro and Kaoru had never changed for each other, never made those small, almost imperceptive adjustments it took to maintain a relationship. To see them changing together after knowing each other for a week while he'd known Kaoru for years, that had made him bitter. And so, in the end Sou had changed for her, if bitterness had anything to do with changing. But it came too late, and at the wrong time, and too far away from the right place, and it was the wrong change anyway.

In this room, time stood still a year ago, when their relationship was new enough and solid enough that neither of them had needed to change at all. And if he asked her to, she would stay longer. If he asked her, she'd come back tomorrow and spend the day with him and lay here against him and comfort him because she'd sense something was wrong and want to fix it. And if he let her she would fix it and then when a year rolled around he would have figured out how to change for her and she'd have figured out how to change for him and it wouldn't matter if she met the Battousai at all. It wouldn't matter that you weren't supposed to have to figure out how to change for the girl you loved, even back when she thought she loved you too.

He could stay in this room a year ago if he wanted, for as long as he wanted, for as long as it took until he felt that things might be right again. Until he felt that he might be right again. The possibilities were attractive.

_- _

_I want chocolate. Do we have any?  
No. And even if we did, it wouldn't be in the bathroom closet.  
I thought you might have hidden it._

-

Stalemate.

Ken wasn't going to win unless he had a better plan. He didn't. But Kaoru was here, and that gave him hope. Before she'd come he had barely had the energy to lift his head in the face of the dark one. Now he could look the thing in the eye, the thing that looked like Sano.

He thought Akira was probably still alive. All the rest of the dark one's guards were dead except Yutaro Tsukayama, who he'd forgotten about. After the confusion had settled, everyone left alive stood frozen. Kaoru stood in a defensive stance with Yumi behind her in a corner. Ken stood alone about twenty feet away from them. Shishio had dragged Seta a good ten feet from Myojin and was shielding him from harm with his body. Tsukayama's sword was at Myojin's throat, but he wasn't watching his prisoner. Tsukayama was staring into Tsubame's eyes as she held a shuriken to his throat. The dark one stood behind Tsubame, ready to kill her if she lived, or her husband if she died.

Ken remembered. Tsukayama and Myojin had fought over Tsubame years ago. She was the main reason they'd become bitter rivals. A glace at Tsukayama staring at her and Ken knew the vampire loved her. There was no way to tell what would come of the confrontation, but Ken couldn't attack if he wanted Tsubame to live. She'd left her back completely unguarded. If Ken attacked, the dark one would kill Tsubame. Then Tsukayama would snap out of his daze and kill Myojin. If Ken stayed still, there was a chance one of the Myojins would survive. Not both. Not with Myojin sitting there trembling under the force of the dark one's aura. Tsubame had to do something soon, or her resolve would slip and she'd wind up just like her husband and Soujiro. She'd become lost somewhere in her mind.

"Put the sword down," Tsubame ordered, her voice clear throughout the room.

"I can't do that, Tsubame, not until you lower your shuriken," Tsukayama answered. From where Ken was standing, he could see Tsukayama's face and Myojin's blank stare. Tsukayama looked grief-stricken.

"We both know what stands behind me, ready to slit my throat," Tsubame answered.

"Why didn't you pick me?" Tsukayama asked, young and hurt again all at once, because he'd seen that she would probably die. "This wouldn't be happening."

Ken remembered. Once, he and Sano had met with Yahiko Myojin, back before he was the head of the Juppongatana, not long after he'd been turned. The young man had already been in love with Tsubame, and he'd confided in Ken and Sano that he thought the woman saw him only as a kid. She'd been a vampire ten years longer than he had.

_"Yahiko, why are you telling us about your pathetic lack of a love life?" Sano asked._

_"Shut up, rooster head," Myojin retorted. "I'm telling Ken. What kind of fool would go to you for advice?"_

_"He's right, Sano," Ken agreed with a smirk. "You haven't had much luck with women lately."_

_Sano stood indignantly. "I know when I'm not wanted. See you Casanovas at the bar. I need a drink." He rolled his eyes and shoved his way through the crowd._

_Myojin didn't waste any time. "Come on, Ken," he pleaded. "I know you can help me. I don't have much time. I have to get back to headquarters before I'm missed. The guys would never let me live it down. How can I make Tsubame notice me?"_

_Ken sighed. The kid did look pretty desperate. "If this works out, you owe me."_

_Myojin nodded eagerly. "I owe you more than I can ever repay if you help me win Tsubame. She's the best thing that ever happened to me."_

_"Tsubame?__ That's her name?"_

_Myojin nodded. "Yes. She works with me, and also in the science department. She's very smart."_

_"Have you got any competition?" Ken asked._

_"Yeah," Myojin's eyes narrowed. "Another guy who works with her in the science department. She clearly doesn't have any romantic feelings for him, but she's so nice she won't give him an outright no. You've got to help me, Ken. What if she gives in and goes out with him on a pity date and he slips something in her drink and seduces her and uses mind control on her to get her to keep going out with him and-"_

_"Yahiko," Ken broke in sharply, "If she hasn't said yes to this other man already, she's probably not going to unless you make her mad. Now how far have you gotten with her?"_

_"We spend our lunch hour together everyday, but I think she thinks it's just a friend thing."_

_Myojin was hopeless. For his sake, Ken hoped the relationship worked out. "She has other friends, doesn't she?"_

_"Yes." Myojin said slowly._

_"She doesn't go to lunch with them, does she?"_

_"No, but she goes out to dinner with this woman Yumi sometimes. I think they like to talk about sciencey things." A new and horrifying possibility dawned in Myojin's mind. "What if I'm not smart enough for her, Ken?"_

_"Didn't you say you got your masters degree in business when you were human?"_

_"Yeah, but I don't know anything about science. I probably forget how to read the periodic table."_

_"Bringing up the lunch again," Ken stated, "If she thought you were dumb, she wouldn't eat with you everyday. I think she's waiting for you to ask her out to dinner. Does she like to dance?"_

_Myojin nodded._

_"Then take her out for dinner and dancing."_

_"When should I ask her out?"_

_Ken shook his head. So needy. "The next time you eat lunch together. And you're paying for these lunches from now on if you're not already."_

_Myojin nodded._

_"So, date one: dinner and dancing." Ken paused to laugh when he realized Myojin had taken out a pen and paper and was taking notes. "Date two, make it something fun, like ice skating, followed by dinner. Date three: bring her on a picnic instead of your usual lunch spot. Date four: dinner and dancing again, only at your house or hers. You cook. Try something Italian and bring wine if she likes it, so pay attention to what she orders for dinner on the first date. From there, you'll know what to do."_

_Myojin looked up from his paper and smiled at him. "Thanks."_

_"And don't worry about the other guy, Yahiko. If you worry, she'll notice and you'll seem insecure. Only tell her you were worried after your relationship is solid. Then she'll think it was cute."_

_"Women are strange. Thanks, Ken. You're a great friend." Myojin stood._

_"No problem," Ken shrugged. "And I don't blame you for not listening to Sano's advice."_

_"I heard that," Sano yelled over the background noise of the other customers. He let his body drop into the vacant seat beside Ken, then slid a beer over to Ken and took a long swallow of the one he'd bought for himself. "Ken's advice may be good for getting the girl, but when it comes to keeping her," he winked at a waitress across the room. "I'm your man."_

_"Yeah, whatever, rooster-head," Myojin dismissed Sano's words. "Bye." He left._

_"I'm underappreciated," Sano commented wryly._

"I love him. You know that," Tsubame told Yutaro Tsukayama gently, as if she didn't hold a poisoned shuriken to his throat, as if she were merely consoling him, letting him down gently in her living room, instead of here with the bodies around them and blood all over her clothes.

"I love you," Tsukayama said, "But it's twisted now." His eyes pleaded with her.

"My last shuriken," Tsubame said softly. "I love Yahiko," she said in apology as she drove the shuriken into Tsukayama's throat.

The dark one lunged forward to kill her, but Myojin had lunged first, and his body was in front of the blade instead of Tsubame's. His death was quick and he died before Tsubame turned around in confusion to see her husband lying at her feet. Ken could have seen her face now, but he kept his eyes averted, fearful of witnessing whatever expression rested there. Tsubame dropped to her knees, fell over her husband's body. She wept silently. Ken was struck by the sight of the woman collapsed between the two dead men.

_- _

_It really bugs me that I never see the end of that movie,  
But I've watched it five times in the past four nights.  
And I never see the ending. I always fall asleep or have to go somewhere. Not cool.  
Want me to tell you what happens?  
Nah.__ If I knew I'd never watch it and even if I did, all the fun would be gone. That's why I don't go to fortune tellers.  
Are you condemning me because I indulge in fortune tellers once in a while?  
What makes you ask that?  
You just gave me a high and mighty speech about how you don't like surprises ruined.  
Maybe I did. And maybe I didn't._

-

Someone needed to take control of the situation. Someone who was not the dark one. Ken obviously wasn't going to, not that she could blame him, after seeing Myojin killed so quickly like that and then watching Tsubame with that expression of horror on her face, horror that she was still alive. Kaoru needed voices, voices to hear to block the faint sound of Tsubame's tears, voices to on which to concentrate, to block the sight of Tsubame lying there on the floor, of Myojin dead.

"Where's Sagara?" Kaoru asked the dark one.

"Right there," Yumi spoke up. She stepped from behind Kaoru's shoulder so she was even with her.

Perhaps Kaoru wasn't the one to take control of the situation after all.

The dark one turned to stare at them both, a bemused expression on his face. "Are you going to tell them, Yumi? The Battousai will not like what you're going to say. I think he's having enough issues with my appearance already."

"Please, sir," Yumi said pleasantly, bowing her head in submission. "Let me speak."

"What are you doing?" Kaoru hissed softly, grabbing the vampire's arm.

"Shh, Kaoru," Yumi commanded too quietly for the dark one or Ken to hear. "I have only your best interests at heart."

Kaoru wondered if her idea of her best interests and Yumi's idea of her best interests were the same. She didn't think so. But Yumi possessed an intensity that she admired. The woman still gripped the same small object in her left hand. Kaoru could see the top of it, and it looked like a vial.

The dark one smirked in their direction. "Speak, then, Yumi."

"Thank you," she said, her voice loud once again. "As I was saying, that right there is Sagara, or at least, his body. The dark one is incorporeal. It came into this world inside the body of the human who called it. Its summoning had been botched, so instead of possessing its own body, it was forced to possess the bodies of others in order to survive. When the human who called it to this world died, it switched to the body of a child. Children's brains are easiest to master. Vampires are hardest. The older the vampire, the harder it is for the dark one to take over its mind because each experience we go through enhances our sense of self."

"But what happens to the soul of the person whose body is possessed?" Kaoru interrupted. The whole thing sounded unbelievable, but the Sagara she'd met in the cell had been so different from this man that they were two different people. Unless he was a good actor. But could he have faked that illness?

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think the soul is still there, repressed in the back of the mind. Notice the effect the dark one's presence has on those around him," Yumi explained sounding like the scientist she was. "His aura inspires fear, insecurity, and after prolonged exposure, madness." She paused. "Kaoru, you know that vampires are more sensitive to the world than humans. Right now, every vampire in the city can feel the presence of the dark one. It's much worse for the vampires in the direct vicinity. That's why a lot of vampires who come in contact with him join him, so he'll ease the tension, stop them from losing their minds. You saw Yahiko Myojin before he was killed, sitting there rigid against the wall, rocking repetitively, staring into nothing, otherwise motionless: classic symptoms of catatonia. He was protecting his sanity by withdrawing into himself."

"How'd he snap out of it?" Kaoru asked, because he had snapped out of it to save his wife.

"Meditation. My guess is that he wanted the dark one to underestimate him, so he pretended to fall under the force of its aura, or let himself fall under it and stored up his energy. We'll never know which. Then he waited for the moment when he could be most useful, knowing he wouldn't be able to form coherent thoughts for very long once he came up from the false catatonia."

"This is really Sanosuke Sagara's body?" Ken asked the dark one.

The Sano, Kaoru thought incredulously. The Sano that was supposed to be dead? The one whose death Ken was supposedly avenging? Ken couldn't be asking if it was that Sano. That meant Ken's Sano and her Sagara were the same person.

"Yes," Yumi answered for the dark one. "The dark one needed a new body after the fiasco ten years ago, so it wouldn't be immediately recognized by the hunters. It hadn't killed Sagara just in case things didn't happen the way it wanted. Sagara was tortured until he eventually succumbed to the aura. Then he was healed and the dark one took over his body."

What was the dark one? From the information Yumi had provided, she'd vote he was a demon. She'd read books with mention of demons in them. She'd seen movies. They usually didn't end well. If vampires were real, why not demons, although she'd had a sneaking suspicion they were real before all this had happened. But she'd never expected to have to deal with one, since she wasn't a devil worshipper and didn't have much interest in books on the 'arcane arts'.

"Sano's strong," the dark one put in, obviously enjoying the way Ken and Kaoru were staring at him in shock. "I can feel him in my mind right now." He was speaking directly to Ken, who was looking more disgusted by the second. He also looked like he might throw up. Or faint. Or charge at the dark one in a blind rage. Or start screaming and never stop. He saw something in the dark one's eyes Kaoru couldn't, and she was grateful for that, but she wished he didn't have to see it either.

"I let him take over sometimes, but he's fought me for so long that he's weak, right, Kaoru?"

Kaoru's gaze jerked from Ken to the dark one in surprise that it had addressed her directly. "In the jail cell, that was Sano?"

The dark one smiled. "Yes. Why don't you tell Ken how he is? He'll believe it if it comes from you."

Kaoru shook her head. No demon was ordering her around. She clutched the katana in both her hands. God, she could feel the aura now too.

"Tell me," Ken ordered her.

Kaoru shook her head again, in an attempt to clear her head of the aura. Then she nodded. "He's fighting, Ken, but he's sick. I was left unconscious in a jail cell downstairs after I got jumped in the apartment. When I woke up, he was there. Some vampires came and took him away. He told me his name was Sagara on the way out, but I didn't know he was Sano."

Ken smiled at her then. It was his way of telling her that he was going to attack, but there was no way you could just kill a demon. It wouldn't even work with a sword. It wouldn't matter if Ken chopped its head off or shot it in the heart or set it on fire, because killing a demon didn't work like that. You had to banish it or drown it in holy water or stab it with a giant cross or something. Something.

He was going to die. She knew Ken probably didn't see it that way, but he was too emotionally involved to be thinking straight. Kenshin was going to die.

Yumi must have seen him smile at her too, because she shouted. "Wait!" Ken normally wouldn't have listened to her, but her shout held desperation enough to halt a skydiver in midair from pulling the catch on his parachute.

"Battousai, as you are now, you can't defeat the dark one," Yumi said hurriedly. "Ingest this vial and you'll have a chance. This is my life's work."

"You may as well," the dark one shrugged. "I need a challenge before I take over L.A. and have to deal with everyone obeying me. Although satisfying, that can get a little boring," he informed them matter-of-factly.

Demons were selfish, arrogant, stubborn, vengeful, and prideful. And dumb apparently, since no one else would have been that stupid. Yumi put her life before that project on the ladder of things that mattered to her, and the end product of that project was the vial in Yumi's left hand. It must be enough to defeat the dark one.

Ken must have known, finally known, that he couldn't defeat the dark one as he was, tired, desperate, and oppressed by its aura. He'd just witnessed Myojin's death. Kaoru hadn't had time to understand their relationship, but she thought they might have been friends once. Ken nodded and walked towards Yumi. Yumi walked towards him. They met in the middle, ten feet away from Kaoru.

"I wish you weren't taking it on an empty stomach," Yumi fretted. "You're going to be hungry." She popped the cork from the top of the glass vial and handed it to Ken, no doubt watching him with eager eyes.

Yumi dropped the cork on the ground. Ken tilted his head back and drank the contents of a vial, a liquid the exact same shade of green as Yumi's lipstick, but clear. Light shone through it.

"It tastes like lime soda," Ken marveled as he handed the vial back to Yumi.

His face was calm. His eyes met with Kaoru's over Yumi's shoulder. He smiled at her again, his eyes promising her something intangible, something she craved more than anything she'd ever wanted, just before he collapsed.

**- **

**A/N – Sorry about that Yahiko fans... You know, plot development. In my never-ending quest to be unpredictable, I wonder, did anyone see that coming? Just wondering.  
Two chapters left, I think.  
Thank you, reviewers. You make me feel good in the most breathtaking sense of the word.  
Shout out to my cousin, Keefe, who died young.**

**Aryanne**


	26. Believe

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**-**

**Silver Cross**

**-**

**Chapter 26 – Believe**

**-**

_You know what's really annoying?  
Huh?  
When I got turned I had tan lines from working in the field all summer and they haven't gone away. What's it been, fifty years?  
That is really annoying.  
Tell me about it._

-

"Kenshin, you'll never kill it this way."

They both stood in the dark. In truth, he couldn't say 'stood', because there was no floor to stand on. The world was black, stiflingly close and frighteningly vast at the same time. The only color that broke up the monotony of darkness surrounding him was a person: himself, standing in front of him. Instinctively, Ken knew this man was human, as he himself had been his whole life before he'd met Tomoe. Human, the man was still fresh off the farm where he'd served the local daimyo all his life, wearing a hakama and gi, his swords at his belt. Ken's ancestors were samurai. Katana, wakizashi, tanto. The man looked as if he'd stepped right out of the Tokugawa era, out of Japan in the year 1800. It hurt to stand there and look at himself before life, or death rather, had hit him hard.

"Who are you?" Ken asked. He tried to reach out to touch the young man, to prove to himself he was real. He was or the man was. Ken felt he no longer knew which one of them was real. But he couldn't move easily through the dark. It kept him still. Ken and his look-alike were the only things that existed in the darkness, the only things visible anyway, though there was no light and he shouldn't have been able to see at all.

"I'm Himura Kenshin," his look-alike said in Japanese. His hair was tied high in a ponytail, as Kenshin had worn it the entirety of his human life. The hairstyle most samurai had worn was the topknot, but his red hair had been such an unusual color that the daimyo he'd worked for hadn't been able to resist ordering him to display it. He hadn't been known as the Battousai until after his death, but he'd already earned a reputation by the time he'd turned twenty-two. That year the daimyo to whom he was sworn allegiance loaned Kenshin to one of his allies as favor to fight a border skirmish. It had lasted longer than expected, long enough for Tomoe to find him, and he'd died before he could return to his family.

"I'm twenty-three," the younger version of himself continued, "and I haven't been off Honshu my whole life. I'm the part of your soul you've been missing. You left me here when you died."

"Where is here?" Ken asked.

"In our mind," he answered. "Existing in a moment."

A moment. Life changed in moments such as these. "Kaoru," Ken remembered. "What's happening to her?"

"This moment isn't as long for her or anyone else," his human self replied. "She's watching you now. Your body is about to collapse."

"The lime stuff Yumi had me drink must have been poison after all," Ken realized.

The other him shook his head. "No, the liquid you drank is Yumi's dream. It's forced your body to go through major changes. They're better changes if you live through them."

Had he spoken in riddles when he was human? He didn't remember, but it seemed unlikely. "What moment are you talking about?" Ken asked, trying to make sense of the whole thing.

Kenshin shrugged. "My moment is sunset, the day before you died. Do you remember it?" He didn't pause. "Yours is the moment after you drank Yumi's potion, watching Kaoru from across the room." His eyes were wide, violet, jaded but more innocent than Ken was now, after two hundred extra years on this earth.

"You've existed inside of me, all this time," Ken realized. It was crazy, but it felt right. Here was the humanity he'd lost when he'd been turned.

"I'm you," Kenshin confirmed, "before you became the Battousai."

It was true. He'd been called Battousai in the last few months of his life, but he hadn't earned the title until he'd been turned.

"I can still remember our family," Kenshin told him. "Our father always yelled and never talked because he'd gone deaf in one ear. When we were little, we knew the names of all the flowers in the garden because our mother taught us. We forgot them once we were old enough to hold a bokken."

It hurt. And Kenshin knew it hurt. That was why he said all these things, reminded Ken. Ken couldn't remember. The years had washed away the memories: the sound of his mother's voice, her face. Had his father really yelled when he talked? Had he really once known the names of all the flowers in Japanese? He hadn't spoken to anyone in Japanese in years. His mastery of the language was fading. He dreamed in English now, the language that was fast dominating the world.

"Remember our little brothers?" Kenshin continued, his violet eyes far away. "Identical twins. Everyone said it was a miracle, twins in the family. Remember our little sister? We played with her the most. And our older brother? We wanted to be just like him, but then he died and we hated him for leaving."

Ken didn't remember. He'd lived only for the present and the future after he'd become a vampire. He had no time for the past. He'd thrown the duty of remembering away, denounced it, because of the pain. By throwing away his past, he'd also lost whatever remained of his humanity, the part of him that was still Kenshin Himura. But then Sano had died and he hadn't been able to accept it. He'd started looking back at the past again, back over his shoulder at the moments before, not simply the now and the later. Then he'd met Kaoru. Meeting her had intensified his desire to visit the past, if only in his memories. Corny as it was, with her he could fly past the bad memories, the painful ones, and focus on the warm ones.

"Kenshin," Kenshin said, but that was wrong, because Ken wasn't Kenshin. Ken hadn't been Kenshin for a long time.

"What," Ken snapped, so irritated all at once that he could barely move, could barely breathe through the dark, and his human self was suddenly in his face, making him feel angrier that he couldn't remember his own family, damnit, his own mother. His sister. His brothers. His father. They were his too. His to remember.

"Kenshin," Kenshin said again, "Do you remember when you went in the church?"

The cathedral. He nodded. There was no forgetting that night.

"Tell me what happened," Kenshin said, only it was an order, unusual coming from his young face. But they shared the same young face. His eyes were so different. Foreign.

"I couldn't enter," Ken said flatly. "I'm tainted, not worthy."

"It's Kaoru's God," Kenshin said. His young eyes were excited. "Remember you read the whole Bible online after that?"

Ken nodded. "I couldn't touch a Bible either. I wanted to see if I could find out why, but I found nothing."

"Liar," Kenshin accused. "You found the reason you couldn't enter, why no vampire can touch a cross, why that holy water injection killed Tomoe. You thought you learned to fear the cross, but in reality, you learned to fear God."

"I was raised in the Shinto faith of many gods." Ken reminded him skeptically. "Not Christianity."

"Some sects of the Shinto faith developed into a monotheistic religion after you died. You know that Sano was raised in the Tenrikyo faith. He believed in one God."

Ken had forgotten. How much more had he forgotten?

"Do you know what the dark one is, Kenshin?" Kenshin asked. Ken got the feeling he got some sick satisfaction from confusing him. Hell, he couldn't blame the guy, considering he'd been suppressed, effectively imprisoned, in Ken's mind for the past two hundred odd years.

"No," Ken admitted. "But I need to stop it." Or Kaoru would die.

"You can't without Kaoru," Kenshin told him flatly, "and only once you believe."

"Believe in what?" Ken scoffed. "In God? Is that what you expect me to believe in? That He watches over vampires? You're a fool." He laughed bitterly, realizing who he was talking to. "I'm a fool."

Kenshin was suddenly angry. "Stop putting off the inevitable." His eyes flashed amber for a brief instant. Strange. Sano had told him about that, but he'd never bothered to look in the mirror at those moments. Ken hadn't known it happened when he'd been human as well.

"Go back," Kenshin said scornfully.

As the world faded in, Kenshin faded out. Ken fell back into himself, closed his eyes with the shock and realized he was still falling, even though his moment was over.

_- _

_Ouch!  
Are you okay?  
Man! Why'd you throw it so hard?  
Wimp.  
Shut up. You almost broke my nose with a Frisbee!  
Only 'cuz you can't catch._

-

He would have fallen, Kaoru knew, if he hadn't collapsed forward onto Yumi. Thanks to her vampire strength, she caught him easily in her arms. And anyway, he only leaned against her for a second before he was standing on his own again, wavering, but standing without assistance.

Kaoru frowned. Vampires didn't faint as a general rule; at least, she didn't think they did. It looked like her general idea of your everyday vampire had gotten revised again. What had that potion done to him? Yumi had said it was her discovery. She'd said it was the key to everything.

"Thank you," Kenshin said to Yumi.

Kaoru blinked in confusion before realizing he was thanking Yumi for holding him up. It should have been obvious, but she'd expected something bigger to happen, something less anticlimactic.

"How are you feeling?" Yumi asked eagerly.

Kaoru watched as Kenshin swayed on his feet.

"Hungry, like you said I would. But," he paused and didn't complete his sentence.

"Where's the challenge," the dark one demanded impatiently. It was suddenly standing beside her. A demon possessing Sanosuke Sagara's body was standing barely a foot to her right.

"It's right here," Yumi said, turning her back on Kenshin so she was facing Kaoru and the dark one. "Studying you, sir, I realized a vampire could never destroy you. But no human has the years of experience required, or the right amount of motivation," Yumi took a deep breath. The green lip stick shone against her open mouth. "Last month I completed the project I started years ago with my lover. I made his greatest wish come true. But I needed the right vampire to make use of this gift, to appreciate our years of work. The Battousai is the one. It's no secret that he hates himself as a vampire, that the only reason he went on existing in this world was to avenge his friend's death."

Yumi laughed. "He and I are similar," her lips turned upward in a smile. "I did some research on you, sir. I deduced what type of creature you were in order to learn how to kill you. That's how I found out a vampire couldn't do it. Only a human could. I must admit it was a shock. It seemed like my fate and the Battousai's were intertwined. And then I heard about his involvement with Ms. Kamiya and I knew I had to give him the gift of my life's work. With her help, he can kill you."

Yumi must have gone off her rocker. Didn't she see that the dark one was about to kill Kaoru? Definitely not the other way around. And what was she babbling on about? The woman had finally cracked. She was bragging about her discovery, looking smug and happy with herself, and she hadn't actually said a thing.

"So he's not a vampire, anymore," the dark one shrugged. "I feel the change in his ki. You've only made him weaker."

"Strength is an illusion," Yumi cried out. "Strength, even cleverness, will not defeat you."

"If he's not a vampire, what is he?" Kaoru heard herself asking fearfully. Had Yumi somehow deleted Kenshin's emotions so he could fight without feeling he had to protect anyone? Ken had barely said two sentences since he'd fainted. Had he gone mute? Was that why he'd trailed off?

"Kaoru, you of all people have to understand," Yumi said, as if she was amazed at Kaoru's stupidity.

"I'm human again," Kenshin said softly, confirming the wish Kaoru hadn't dared to hope for. If her eyes opened any wider, they'd pop right out of her sockets. He looked the same. His voice sounded the same. The way he carried himself was the same. He probably moved the same way. But he was staring down at himself in shock, and Kaoru knew he'd just realized that himself.

"Yes," Yumi exclaimed, as if she was a teacher and her student had just multiplied 1294 by 392 in his head and got it right. "It was his desire to be human, my lover's desire, and I struggled to give it to him through science. He was a genius," she smiled with pride. "But he's dead and I couldn't waste it on some idiot who actually wanted to be a vampire."

Problems were raging through Kaoru's head. "But the blood that's in Ken's veins, it's not all human. He could die-"

Yumi shook her head. "I thought of that and made adjustments to his new physical makeup. He'll need a transfusion within the hour. It doesn't matter what type of blood, but if he's given type 'O positive' for example, that will be his blood type for the rest of his life." She turned to Kenshin. "You'll need to take as many vitamins as you can for the first three months. Your body's gone too long without them. And you'll burn easily in the sun for a week or two. Wear plenty of sunscreen everyday for a month or you'll develop skin cancer. Drink plenty of fluids. You might feel a little flu-like. You'll have to get your vaccinations. You know, measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, chicken pox, flu, anything else you can think of because your body will have to develop it's own defenses against disease-"

"Hold up," the dark one cut her off. "There's no need to tell him anything because I'm going to kill him. However, I am very impressed with your work, Yumi, although your loyalty is definitely lacking. I'll have to fix that before I kill you. Now, let's get back to the fight. I'm not very patient."

The wheels were turning in Kaoru's head. Yumi said a vampire couldn't defeat the dark one. So she'd turned Kenshin human. Humans were a lot weaker. So why did she say only a human could defeat the dark one?

The answer came to her. She'd been an idiot. But if she'd figured it out on her own, maybe Kenshin could figure it out too. It was too bad she couldn't tell him. Yeah, life would be a lot easier if she could just tell him what to think, if she could make him think the way she wanted him to just this once. Too bad it didn't work that way. Kaoru held the katana with her right hand and brought her left up to her ear, fiddling with her earring as if it was a nervous habit.

Kenshin's eyes narrowed. It looked like he'd finally snapped out of his reverie and noticed how close the dark one was to her, easily within striking distance. "I'll fight you." He bent and picked up his katana with his right hand and sheathed it.

Idiot, Kaoru realized. He was an idiot for not realizing. How was a wimpy piece of metal supposed to defeat a demon from Hell? It wasn't.

"Kenshin," she said sharply. He looked up at her in surprise. She wrenched the silver cross earring from her ear and threw it at him.

_- _

_There are ants in here.  
Didn't you have the exterminator come a couple days ago?  
Yeah. But that doesn't change the fact that there are ants in here.  
Tell the exterminator to come back then.  
I can't.  
Why not?  
I rewarded him with a couple of women, some contacts of mine that wanted to meet another vampire. It turned out that he's really rich and only exterminates bugs because he likes to. He took the women on a cruise somewhere. He's long gone.  
That's one rich bug exterminating vampire.  
There might be stranger people than him._

-

He flinched. Two hundred years as a vampire had ingrained in him the instinct to avoid such things as silver crosses flying through the air in his general direction. Kaoru wanted him to catch it. By the time he remembered he wasn't a vampire and realized if it wasn't important she definitely wouldn't have thrown it to him at a time like this, it was too late. He tried to catch it, but now that he was human again his reflexes were slower and he missed. It flew past him and landed silently on the carpeted floor somewhere beyond him.

The dark one held Kaoru's hands behind her back with one arm. Her katana was on the ground in front of her feet. Now that he wasn't a vampire, Kenshin hadn't seen it move, hadn't seen it grab Kaoru although he'd taken his eyes off them for only a second, an instant really.

"Is killing her the only way to get you to concentrate?" the dark one asked, smiling maliciously. It was in Sano's body. This only made things crueler, although now that he was human again, he couldn't feel the dark one's aura pressing around him. His veins pumped adrenaline, the hair on the back of his neck was on high alert, and he had to remind himself to breathe, but the heavy weight of the aura was mostly lifted.

"Don't kill her." Kenshin heard the words burst from his mouth before he'd had time to think them. Kaoru wasn't even struggling. She'd given up. Was she just going to stand there and make him watch her die?

"You can't save her," Yumi said desperately. "Kaoru tried to save you, but you didn't let her. I gave you your only chance but-"

"Shut up," the dark one yelled.

Yumi tensed and fell silent, head bowed.

Kenshin watched as Kaoru made her move. She'd taken advantage of the dark one's distraction and wrenched one of her arms free from its hold. Kenshin wanted to tell her to stop, that she would only make it kill her faster, but it was already too late. Surprisingly, her hand went to her right ear. She wrenched out her earring and held it between herself and the dark one. It still gripped her other hand.

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only son, our Lord," she began, brandishing the tiny cross as if it was as dangerous as a dagger in front of her.

For the first time, the dark one looked afraid.

Kaoru shoved the cross hard against its chest still reciting the Apostle's Creed, "who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary-"

The cross had burned through the dark one's shirt and must be burning its chest. Ken could hear the sizzle of cooking meat. It wasn't a vampire. What was it?

"She hasn't lived long enough," Yumi said, just as the dark one shoved Kaoru away, brought up his katana, and sliced her head off in one smooth motion.

-

Kenshin picked up his katana with is right hand and sheathed it. He looked up past Yumi at Kaoru and the dark one standing across the room. Kaoru held the katana she must have picked up somewhere in her right hand. With her left she drew her earring from her ear.

Kaoru was still alive. When the dark one had drawn his sword through her neck the cut had been so smooth that Kenshin hadn't had time to react. But this was before she'd thrown the earring at him, before he'd failed to catch it. He must have had a vision of what would happen if he didn't catch her earring. He'd been given another chance. By who? God? He'd spent so many years denying God's existence that not even a vision would make him believe in God. So that had been what his human self had meant in the moment when they'd shared their first conversation in almost two hundred years. He'd said he could only stop the dark one with Kaoru, only once he believed.

Kenshin was trembling with the shock of seeing Kaoru killed and now seeing her alive in front of him, perhaps a minute away from her death. He didn't have time to believe. He only had time to save her. Yumi had said she wasn't strong enough when Kaoru had been jamming the cross into the dark one's chest. She'd said only a human could kill the dark one, a human with experience. Kenshin was now a human with experience.

"Kenshin," Kaoru said sharply. He looked up at her in surprise. She wrenched the silver cross earring from her ear and threw it at him.

This time he caught it in mid-step as he charged toward the dark one, determined to get to Kaoru before it realized Kenshin had figured out how to kill it. That was what Yumi had meant in the vision, when she'd said Kaoru wasn't strong enough. Kenshin was still faster than a normal human. His vampire-enhanced speed and strength were fading slowly from his body. He was still at least four times as strong as Kaoru. He could do it; he could kill it before it killed her.

Kaoru met his eyes then, and the dark one grabbed her hands and held them behind her back, because it knew a cross was the only way it could be defeated. Kenshin saw that now. That was why it surrounded itself with vampires, why it sought to turn humans into vampires. Kaoru met his eyes and twisted away, kicking the dark one in the shin as she did and struggling to escape, sacrificing herself to give Kenshin time to get there, knowing she was going to die.

And the dark one held a hand to her head and the same thing that had happened to Akira was happening to Kaoru. It was worse because he could see her face. There wasn't enough time for her to be anything more than surprised when the dark one placed his hand on the top of her head. Then her eyes closed, her face went slack, and blood started pouring from her, from her nose, her ears, her mouth, her eyes. Much more blood than Akira had shed. The human body contains six quarts of blood and it was all spilling out.

-

Kenshin picked up his katana with is right hand and sheathed it. He looked up past Yumi at Kaoru and the dark one standing across the room. Kaoru held the katana she must have picked up somewhere in her right hand. With her left she drew her earring from her ear.

Kaoru was still alive. Another vision then. Kenshin was breathing harder. What was he supposed to do? How many more chances would he get to defeat the dark one, and why was he getting more than one chance in the first place? He could feel the presence of his human soul. He really was becoming Kenshin again, which was hard to face at a time like this because he could barely remember how it had been to be Kenshin.

"Kenshin," Kaoru said sharply. He looked up at her, no longer surprised. She wrenched the silver cross earring from her ear and threw it at him. She was making it very difficult to save her when she kept trying to save him.

He took a step forward and caught the silver cross in his left hand. Rushing forward wouldn't do any good. He had to wait until he had an opening.

"Come here and join Ms. Kamiya, Battousai," the dark one ordered.

Kenshin met its eyes and it was all wrong because he could see Sano back there, trapped in his own body. It was doing it on purpose, letting Sano be aware of the actions he was being forced to commit. Kenshin had a feeling Sano was usually locked so far back in his own mind that he had no clue what was going on around him. There was pain in those eyes, and regret.

"Too late," the dark one said. It was still wrong because Sano was still there. Sano was still aware as he picked Kaoru up by her neck and threw her against the wall, all because Kenshin had hesitated. She lay where she'd fallen, still and slumped against the wall, not Kaoru anymore.

-

He wanted to save her, needed to save her, but Kenshin understood that it wasn't about saving Kaoru anymore. He had to save Sano, and then it might work out with Kaoru. He wanted Kaoru to live more than he wanted to kill the dark one now, but he didn't know if he could, not when he knew he'd be killing Sano as well.

"Kenshin," Kaoru said sharply. He looked up at her, no longer surprised. She wrenched the silver cross earring from her ear and threw it at him. She was making it very difficult to save her when she kept trying to save him.

He caught the earring she threw as he took a step towards the dark one.

"Come here and join Ms. Kamiya, Battousai," the dark one ordered.

Kenshin met its eyes and saw Sano. This time he didn't hesitate, didn't dwell on the fact that his friend was a prisoner in his own body. The eyes grew strained with pain, and then exhaustion.

"Kenshin," Sano said, releasing Kaoru. He doubled over in a coughing fit. Kenshin froze. By the time the fit was over Sano was having trouble breathing. When he stood again Kenshin could see how weak his friend was. Sano wiped a bloodstained hand on his jeans. There was heaviness to his manner that Sano had never possessed before, as if he'd carried the world his whole life and it was only his determination that prevented him from collapsing. The dark one's possession was causing his body to decline. He'd been fighting it for too long. Sano looked beyond tired. Ken knew dark circles under Sano's eyes had been there for a long time and the complexion under his tan was pale ivory. It seemed impossible that the body he and the dark one shared could have deteriorated into that of this weak vampire when the dark one relinquished its influence. The willpower it took for Sano to stay in control was killing him.

"Kenshin, it wants to kill her," Sano said flatly. They both looked at Kaoru.

"I would've tried to kill you," she said in wonder. "But you're still there, and you can suppress the dark one's will."

Sano shook his head wearily. "It's an illusion. I can't control it. It's only letting me be aware now."

"Sano-", Kenshin started.

"You have to kill me," Sano ordered, his gaze focused on Kenshin again. He looked scared.

"I can't," Kenshin told him. "I thought you were dead."

"This is worse," Sano said. "I'd kill myself if it would let me. It's been past time for my death."

"You don't mean that," Kaoru broke in.

Sano turned to look at her, showing her the same fear in his eyes that he'd shown Kenshin. "Killing this demon is right."

Kaoru shuddered. "But you'll die."

"I've wanted death since I became a vampire. I saw the afterlife when my human body died, but I was dragged away by the coward's choice I made to become a vampire instead of facing death."

Kenshin couldn't find breathe enough to speak.

"Megumi's waiting for me, Kenshin," Sano said to him. "Either way, I'm going to die tonight."

Sano knew then. He knew that if Kenshin didn't kill him, the dark one would abandon his weak body and possess someone else, someone it would be impossible to kill until their body was as worn down as Sano's. That would take years. It would probably possess Tsubame, since she was strongest, and her spirit had broken with Yahiko's death.

"I'd rather you did it, Kenshin," Sano said softly.

Kenshin looked at Kaoru. She was staring at Sano with something like respect and dread all at once. Even if he did find it in himself to kill his best friend, what would she think of him? Would she look at him the same way, with dread?

Horror crossed Sano's face and he was gone. The dark one was taking back control over the body they shared. A soul and a demon were fighting a war in that body, a war that the dark one would win.

"Move, Kaoru," Kenshin shouted as he ran towards the dark one. Blessedly, thankfully, she did. Then Kenshin was standing in front of the dark one inside his friend's body, and somewhere back behind those eyes was Sano, waiting for Kenshin to kill him.

So many chances he'd been given, to complete this task. Unbidden, a memory of a whisper reached his mind. _He's been watching over you your whole life. He didn't stop caring for your soul just because your body changed._ When had Kaoru told him that? Kenshin felt that he was on the edge of realizing something. He almost understood what Kaoru had been trying to tell him, why the human side of his soul had implored him to believe, why he'd read the Bible that one time, even though he was a vampire. But he wasn't a vampire anymore, and that was the whole point, wasn't it? He was human again.

Kenshin held the cross in his left fist. He leaned forward to press it against the dark one's shoulder. For the first time he saw fear in its eyes.

He shoved the cross forward then, but the dark one anticipated his move. It dropped to a crouch and kicked Kenshin's feet out from underneath him all before Kenshin could react, now that he was human. But his eyes were still quick and he could see it all happen, see it all happening and he knew that if he hadn't been able to kill the dark one as a vampire, he wouldn't have a chance as a human.

The dark one laughed as he was falling, its voice no longer masquerading as Sano's but low and guttural, painful to the ear. Kenshin fought the urge to cover his ears in mid-fall, because he didn't know if he could stand it any longer. He knew why Sano wanted to die. Death was better than having that thing crawling around inside him, probing his thoughts, its voice in his mind. He had to save Sano from that.

The dark one kicked him again, before his body had touched the ground, and he knew at least a couple of his ribs were broken. He landed hard a few feet away and let himself roll so he was lying on his side facing the dark one. It was letting him see Sano trapped there because its eyes held only pain. It was torture looking into them, Sano's eyes in the alien face.

Kaoru ran at the dark one and made to kick it, fear in her eyes. Why did she keep trying to save him?

Kenshin closed his eyes because he couldn't watch her die again.

-

God was cruel in His love, making him try over and over. Kenshin couldn't do it alone. It wasn't happening no matter how many chances he was given. On his own Kaoru would die, Sano would die, Yahiko had already died. He was falling now, falling over the edge of the realization he sensed he was near before.

"Move, Kaoru," Kenshin shouted as he dropped his useless katana and ran towards the dark one. Blessedly, thankfully, she did. Kenshin stopped in front of the dark one inside his friend's body, and somewhere back behind those eyes was Sano, wanting Kenshin to kill him. It wasn't fair, damnit. As he stopped he thrust his left fist, the one with the cross in it, forward. He could feel the power held inside it because he could believe now. And there was the fear in the demon's eyes just as he'd known there would be the second he began to believe. He slammed the cross into the dark one's forehead and it fell back, writhing. He fell with it, keeping his hand pressed against its forehead. They hit the ground and Kenshin bounced with the force of the impact, but his palm remained flat on the dark one's forehead, sandwiching the cross between his hand and its suddenly feverish skin.

It was staring up at him with as much fury as pain. Sano was completely submerged beneath the flood of its will now, as it struggled silently to hurl Kenshin away. It knew it would lose, but knowing that fact only fed its anger. As the cross burned through the thing's skin Kenshin heard himself praying, because something was rising up out of Sano's body, something that looked like mist in the shape of a featureless man.

"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, for his namesake," Kenshin heard himself say as he felt his strength being torn from him and used by the cross that pulsed against the palm of his hand.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me," Kenshin let the words pour from him as the last of his vampire strength burned away in the light of the cross and the incorporeal body of the demon faded even as the light's intensity grew.

"I believe in God, the father almighty, and in Jesus Christ, His only son, our Lord," Kenshin said as he found out that he did believe.

The ghost-like body of the demon had completely risen from Sano. Kenshin's hand, pressed against its forehead, had risen with it. Now the body shattered into pieces, only to dissolve in mid-air. The oppressive aura Kenshin hadn't realized he could still feel lifted. The silver cross dropped from his palm and fell neatly onto the scar it had burned into Sano's forehead.

Sano's eyes were open, his body weak and sickly again as he lay on the carpet, staring upwards at Kenshin. Their eyes met.

"Thanks, Kenshin," Sano said. He smiled at something beyond Kenshin, and his body dissolved into ashes.

The silver cross glinted on the carpet.

Kenshin passed out.

_- _

_Don't be superstitious.  
But a black cat crossed my path!  
They say trouble comes in threes.  
Your words are oh so comforting.  
Sarcasm doesn't become you.  
Just shut up._

-

"Soujiro," Kaoru said, bursting into his dorm room in college. "It's over! You can go back."

Light had entered the room with her. It glinted merrily off her earrings, tiny gold hoops today. It was almost enough to cheer him up.

"I can't go out like this," Soujiro told her.

Kaoru came over and sat down beside him on the floor. For some reason he was cutting out little gingerbread men from brown construction paper.

"You can't stay here, Sou. You'll die."

Sou shook his head. "They'll take care of my body. You're here. I'll be fine."

"But your uncle is looking for you," Kaoru protested. "He's been talking to you for a while now. You can't keep on ignoring him. It's rude." She tapped her hands against her knees.

"Kaoru, you're not there out there."

She cast him a confused stare.

He tried again. "There's a lot happening out there, life changing things, and I can't deal with them alone. But you and I broke up, so even though you're here, you're not out there to help me."

"Sou," Kaoru's voice was stern. "Even if we did break up, I know I'm still there to help you. You don't even need help, not really. You can deal with whatever it is." This was the Kaoru of a year ago, when she had complete confidence in him.

Soujiro shook his head. "I can't deal with it, but I can't let the Kaoru out there know I'm having trouble. I can't be a burden to her. It would only make her unhappy, and she already has more problems than me."

Kaoru bent her head and stared down at the gingerbread cut outs scattered on the floor around him. "You're sacrificing yourself for me?"

He realized she might feel guilty. "It's not like that-"

"Am I going out with another guy?" she asked. There was something in her voice, something that threatened to take away the light she'd brought with her if he didn't answer.

"You are," he answered, focusing on the head of his latest gingerbread man.

"Why?" she asked. "Why aren't we together if you'll sacrifice yourself for me?"

"He will too," Soujiro said, because it was the truth. "And I think he already has. He's better at protecting you anyway."

"I'm sorry, Sou," she said, watching his hands now. "But promise me you'll go back. Your uncle wants to help you."

"Uncle Shishio only uses people."

"How can you say that?" she asked, stricken. "You're not usually judgmental."

"It's the truth," he said stubbornly, because it was.

Her hands covered his, pried the scissors away and discarded them. She brought his hands to her face and he met her eyes. "Promise me you'll go back."

He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off.

"In a couple days," she begged, "when your uncle brings your body to your family and I can hear their voices, say you'll go back. You know this is all a dream, a block you've put up to stop whatever's happening out there from reaching you. Promise," she demanded. But her voice trembled and her hands shook, so it wasn't much of a demand. Still, this was Kaoru, and he'd never been able to deny her something she really wanted if he could give it.

Sou sighed, suddenly too tired to argue. "I'll go back."

She threw her arms around him and buried her face against the cloth of his shirt. He held her, because she wanted him to and because he needed the contact. It looked like he wasn't going to take the easy way out after all.

_- _

_I just bought this cool talking robot.  
What's it say?  
Me llamo Roberto el roboto.  
That is cool!  
Gracias._

-

Kaoru watched Kenshin pass out in front of her. Sano was dead, but it was over. It was all finally over. She didn't have to hold herself up anymore. She unclenched her hand from around the katana. She'd been holding it so long and so tightly that the motion hurt. Her fingers wanted to stay locked around the hilt. She ignored the pain and flung the sword away from herself.

Kaoru let herself fall to her knees. Her mind refused to dwell on what had just happened. Every time she tried to recall anything from the whole evening her mind slid around the memory. It was shutting down so fast she felt disoriented. She wondered if she was going into shock. The bump on the back of her head started throbbing again, except it had probably been throbbing the whole time.

She only needed a moment. She'd never felt this tired before, not even after a hard practice with the rest of the track team back in high school.

Her cheek rested against the carpet. She closed her eyes.

Shishio was yelling at Tsubame. She'd forgotten he was in the room. She hoped Soujiro was okay. She'd gotten a glimpse of him and he hadn't looked good. He hadn't even looked like he was there.

A huge flash of light shone beyond her eyelids. It brought her down into the darkness.

_- _

_Ayame and I got really cool pens at this new restaurant, Ken.  
Since when have you thought a pen was 'really cool'?  
Mine writes green._

-

"You're awake," a male voice said.

She was lying on her back, on a bed it felt like, under a thin sheet that felt like cotton. Kaoru tried to open her eyes, couldn't. Everything was black. Not true exactly, she could sense a light directly above her, grayness cutting through the dark.

The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it, so she asked. "Who are you?"

"We've met once before," the man told her. His voice came from her right. It sounded like he was sitting in a chair next to her bed. Was she in a hospital?

"I'm Soujiro's uncle, Makoto Shishio."

The vampire hunter. Kaoru tried to sit up, but he held an arm in front of her chest and forced her to lie back down. She still felt weak and her head ached.

"Where am I? Where's Kenshin? Why can't I see? Am I-"

"Let me explain Ms. Kamiya," Shishio cut her off. "You're in Dr. Gensai's private offices. The Battousai is receiving a blood transfusion in another room. You can't see because you're blind."

Kaoru felt her eyes widen in shock. Kenshin was safe, but she... She was blind. She closed her eyes. There was no use keeping them open if it made no difference. "Is- is Kenshin going to be alright?" She couldn't think about herself right now.

"The good doctor anticipates a full recovery after the transfusion." Shishio sounded surprised for some reason. Footsteps sounded from the hallway. Tile floors. They stopped outside of what she guessed must be the doorway to the room she was lying in. Kaoru heard the tell-tale rustle of clothing as Shishio stood.

"You're awake," a new voice observed from the doorway, a voice she was sure she'd heard before.

"I'm going to check on my nephew," she heard Shishio say. "Inform Ms. Kamiya of all she wishes to know."

The man in the hallway must have nodded his assent, because the two men didn't exchange more words. All Kaoru heard was their footsteps. One set coming towards her, one set fading away and out into the hall. The chair creaked as the newcomer seated himself beside her.

"My name is Enishi," he told her.

Kaoru moved her arm experimentally. She wasn't tied down to the bed. Shishio had obviously felt there was no need for restraints. She wondered if that meant he would let her live. Probably. But would he let Kenshin live?

"I'm Kaoru," she said. He took her wrist and felt for her pulse. She was surprised at the relief she felt at the contact. "Are you a doctor?" she asked.

He laughed. "No. I'm a hunter. We've met before. I'm afraid I was the one who got you into this mess." His hand lifted from her wrist.

"What do you mean?"

"I was working for Jineh Kuragosa, hunting the Battousai when he ran into you at the restaurant. I'm sure you remember our interview."

Realization dawned. "You're the white haired man from Tae's." It seemed like an age ago.

"Nine nights is a long time, isn't it?" he asked. She hadn't recognized his voice because this time it held warmth. His voice had been cold when he'd been trying to bully information out of her. Now it was full of relief.

"That's right," Kaoru said. "It's the nineteenth now, isn't it?"

"Almost dawn," he affirmed. "I'm here to fill you in on what happened after you passed out. Ready?"

Kaoru nodded. "As I'll ever be."

He placed a small paper package in her hands and let her fingers explore it while he spoke. "These are an enhanced form of firecrackers. If you were to throw them on the ground they'd give off enough artificial light to kill any and all the vampires in the immediate vicinity." To Kaoru, it felt like pebbles inside the package, small hard pebbles.

"They're also bright enough to temporarily blind any normal human," Enishi continued. "Even if the person throwing them wears sunglasses and covers their eyes, they still might be blind for a few minutes. That's why hunters don't use these in combat. We're still working on developing a better way to protect the eyes."

Hope started to bloom in Kaoru's mind.

"As you were passing out, the last of the dark one's vampires broke past Saitou and Shinomori and entered the room. Shishio had a package of light bombs. He set them off and killed all the vampires in the vicinity."

"All the vampires?" Kaoru asked fearfully.

"Tsubame Myojin escaped, if that's what you're asking."

"Yumi?"

"Ashes. She felt that her life was complete when she succeeded in turning the Battousai human again. Shishio gave her time to escape, but she failed to leave the room."

A part of Kaoru had expected that, but she'd been holding onto the hope that she could thank Yumi for what she'd done.

"Shishio wore protective sunglasses, so his vision is fine, but you and Seta were both blinded. At least, we think he was blinded. He's still catatonic. Dr. Gensai expects him to come out of it when his family comes for him. You both should regain your sight in three days. That's how long it took in our labs when we tested the light bombs."

Kaoru took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She wasn't blind. She wasn't blind. She didn't have to learn Braille after all.

"Shishio didn't tell you it was temporary, did he?"

Kaoru shook her head. "I think he's still mad about Soujiro."

"Probably," Enishi agreed. "Don't worry about it." He changed the subject. "Shishio told me Yumi gave you some warnings about Kenshin's physical condition. He'll need to be isolated. You'll have to get him the vitamins, the sunscreen, the vaccinations, plenty of fluids, everything you'd do for a baby. Dr. Gensai thinks his immune system will take at least a month until it's developed into that of a normal adult's. And he's got to get a lot of exercise. He'll be ready to travel in a few days. Shishio, Soujiro, and I will escort the two of you back to Pennsylvania."

"My parents," Kaoru suddenly remembered. "They're still on their two-week cruise."

"Shishio has called them already," Enishi said smoothly. "They'll meet you and the Battousai at the airport in Philadelphia."

"Okay," Kaoru said, relieved. "Why is Soujiro catatonic?"

"It's one of the body's defense mechanisms. His mind couldn't deal with the dark one's aura, so it closed him off from the rest of the world in order to remain intact. Once he realizes the danger has been eliminated, he'll come out of it," Enishi explained. "I'm surprised you haven't asked about yourself, Kaoru."

She hadn't wanted to ask. It made things seem final to say them. Part of her had hoped that if she didn't ask, she'd never know, and nothing would be wrong. The foolish part of her. She asked. "Is something else wrong with me?"

"No," Enishi answered. "You didn't suffer a concussion. All your vitals are good. You're just exhausted." He paused. "And now, Kaoru, our conversation is over. The Battousai is here."

"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked, startled. She hadn't heard him enter.

Enishi stood from the chair and his footsteps trailed to the hallway along with the soft rustle of his clothing.

"I'm here," Kenshin's voice came to her ear. He was right next to her, standing in the spot Enishi had so recently vacated. She concluded he moved as silently human as he had when he was a vampire. Enishi shut the door behind him and Kenshin lifted her right hand in both of his.

His lips met hers. It felt like years since he'd kissed her.

He pulled back, but only so he could climb up onto the bed next to her. She moved so she was lying on her side to accommodate him and he slid under the thin sheet that covered her. She felt his breathe on her face the moment before he kissed her again, his hand trailing along her cheek. His lips were warm and human, and this time it wasn't an illusion.

"I love you, Kaoru," he said when they broke apart. "I should have told you before."

Kaoru smiled. She felt a tear slide sideways across her nose and then her cheek. "I love you, but-"

"But what?"

It was going to cost her so much to say this. "If you don't want to be human, I understand."

"I want it, Kaoru," he said immediately. She almost fainted with relief. "I've wanted it since I died the first time. I wanted it more since I met you."

She exhaled a shaky laugh. "Enishi told me it's only been nine nights."

"Ten days," he corrected her. "I can see the dawn out the window, Kaoru." His voice was gentle, as if he'd strayed into a dream. "Pink and orange and pale blue and purple. The clouds are full of color, Kaoru." He sounded happier than she'd ever heard him before. He rubbed his thumb along her cheek. "Tell me the moment you get your sight back. I want to be there when you see again. It's like I've been blind all that time, Kaoru." She could hear the smile in his voice. "You're even prettier in daylight."

She wished she could see the expression on his face. "How'd you walk in here on your own after you just went through a blood transfusion?" she asked to make not seeing him easier.

"I had to make sure you were okay," he told her simply. "And I couldn't leave you alone with Enishi. He might try to seduce you just to spite me."

Kaoru laughed for real this time. "I love you, Kenshin."

He kissed her again.

**- **

**A/N – Writing this chapter was the most stressful literary experiences I've had in a long time. It's been almost two years, guys. A month and it'll be two years since I started writing Silver Cross. I'm looking forward to the fluff ahead before I finally leave this version of Kenshin and Kaoru alone. Thank you for the inspiration people! One chapter left now, ya'll.**

**Aryanne**


	27. Epilogue

**Disclaimer – I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.**

**-**

**Silver Cross**

**-**

**Chapter 27 – Epilogue**

**-**

_You know what it feels like to kiss a woman?  
Of course.  
Ah Ken, if you say 'of course' you haven't kissed the right one yet.  
And you have?  
Megumi was the woman for me._

-

**One Year Later: Mid-Summer 2004**

-

"How can you walk in stilettos, Misao?" Kaoru asked, exiting the car with difficulty. Her purse kept slipping down her arm, her tank top was inching its way up her stomach, and she couldn't seem to keep her balance. "I'm having enough trouble in my heels."

"Practice, Kaoru." Misao replied, watching as Kenshin shut his car door and grabbed Kaoru's arm to steady her.

Kaoru flashed him a relieved smile. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said lightly, releasing her to stand on her own.

Misao latched on to his arm. "Aoshi and I miss you now that you're human, Himura, but Kaoru seems to be taking care of you."

"I don't miss him," Aoshi said dryly, walking around the car from the driver's side to join them.

"Well you've been working with him this summer, but I know you missed him during the school year," Misao said cheerfully. The woman really was all cheer, Kaoru had discovered on the infrequent occasions Misao had dropped in to visit her during the past year. The part where Aoshi missed Kenshin, she was probably wrong about though.

Katsu pulled his green Jeep Cherokee into the parking lot a space over from the one they stood in.

"I swear, Katsu drives like the proverbial old lady," Misao murmured as Katsu shut down the engine and he and his passenger exited the car.

"He does. Doesn't he?" Kenshin agreed with Misao, who'd loosened her grip on his arm a bit.

Aoshi didn't comment, but that was fine. If Kaoru was honest with herself, and she was, Aoshi still intimidated her, and if Aoshi resented the fact that Kenshin was human again, he probably blamed her. Irrational, but she got the feeling that might be the case.

"So that's the club? Shinta, you said it was called?" Tsubame asked as she and Katsu walked over, arms linked in a friendly gesture between allies.

"Sure is," Misao answered cheerfully.

They'd all met at the Shinomori apartment a half hour before. Tsubame had flown in from Los Angeles, where Saitou now ruled over what was left of the Juppongatana. After her husband's murder, Tsubame had returned to her first passion: science. She'd found Yumi's notes and was currently deep in the process of re-developing the formula to turn vampires human. Yumi's version of the chemical had died with her, but Tsubame expected to have the new formula completed in a year.

"Remember the last time we were here?" Misao asked Aoshi happily.

Kaoru remembered the last time she'd been here with Kenshin. She wasn't all too keen on going back, but Aoshi had said he had a surprise for them all. When Aoshi Shinomori had a surprise for you, you went along with it. That's why Katsu was along, because he knew the surprise and Aoshi didn't want him to give the secret away to Kenshin on purpose. Kaoru wasn't too surprised that Katsu was in on it. Although he was a member of the Sekihoutai, he worked closely with the ruling vampires of New York City, the Shinomori's Oniwaban.

Why were she and Kenshin along if it was both vampire business and vampire politics? Aoshi had called Kenshin on his cell phone and told him it would affect the work he did for the Oniwaban.

Kenshin had an affinity for languages. Actually, he was a genius with languages. With the help of the Oniwaban, he'd acquired and solidified his new identity as a human, and had the papers to prove it. He'd used the false identification to enroll in the same university she attended, and now he was a year away from his master's degree in international relations. When he finished his degree, he'd act as the head of a new division of the Oniwaban: international relations. Aoshi had apparently felt the need to expand his influence across a couple oceans. This basically meant Ken would be involved a lot of vampire politics.

At first, she hadn't been too keen on the idea, but she'd eventually reconciled herself to the fact that he had lived on this earth as a vampire longer than as a human. She understood he felt he couldn't cut all the vampires he knew out of his life. The hunters, especially Shishio, saw him as a traitor to humanity, but she could deal with that. Shishio had tried to coerce Kenshin into giving him the location of all the vampire safe houses he knew about. Of course Kenshin had refused. Not all vampires were evil creatures hell-bent on converting all humanity to vampirism. Not even most of them. So in the end Kenshin accepted the job. The pay was great and he got to travel. Some people had all the luck. There was also a job open for Kaoru, but she still had one year left until she got her undergraduate degree and then she was going to law school. She figured that was plenty of time to decide if she wanted to work for vampires.

"You and Aoshi go clubbing?" Kenshin asked Misao, trying and failing to hold back a snicker. Kaoru shook away her thoughts and tried to focus on the conversation.

"Yes! What's so weird about that?" Misao asked indignantly.

"Aoshi doesn't seem like the type, that's all," Tsubame said, clearly amused.

"Although he is dressed like a pimp tonight," Katsu pointed out in an attempt to embarrass Aoshi.

Said Aoshi, who had ignored them all until Katsu, turned his head to glare at the shorter vampire. He pressed the lock button on his key chain to set the car alarm on his Benz. Dropping the ring of keys into his pocket, he offered his arm to Tsubame, whom he would be accompanying into the club since Misao was bringing Kenshin.

Katsu offered her his arm. Kaoru was grateful she wasn't going with Aoshi. After hiking her purse up onto her shoulder where it belonged, she took his arm and walked with him towards the club, following a few feet behind Aoshi and Tsubame. Kaoru had no clue why Aoshi was walking around with a cane, and she didn't want to know, but she had to admit, it did make him look sort of pimpish.

If pimpish was a word. Pimped out then.

Misao giggled and Katsu said "Well, excuuuse me." Both Kenshin and Tsubame were silent. Probably trying no to laugh.

Aoshi the vampire was good looking, but Kaoru remembered all too clearly his reaction when Misao had tried to bite her that first night. First impressions and all.

Katsu slipped an arm around her waist and she relaxed a little. Of course he noticed. "You seem tense."

Kaoru sighed. If Katsu noticed, then so had Kenshin, and probably the rest of the vampires. They were very good at reading body language. "It's just Shinta," she admitted. "I didn't exactly have fun the last time I was here."

"Well this time you're armed," Katsu commented, referring to the silver senbon Kenshin had woven into her hair earlier. He was pretty good with hair. She also had some of the firecracker-light-bomb-things in her purse, but only as a last resort. She wasn't in too big of a hurry to be blinded again. No doubt everyone else was better armed than she was. Since male clothing was not designed to be form fitting, the three males could conceal their weapons easily. Kaoru's designer jeans were not hiding anything, and neither was the form fitting tank she wore under her blue crocheted top. A few random necklaces she'd thrown on to look glitzy completed the outfit and weren't hiding much either.

"Armed after a fashion," Kaoru acknowledged. She supposed she could always half-strangle someone with a necklace if worse came to worse, but in the company of the Shinomoris, Katsu, Tsubame, and Kenshin, she didn't it would reach that point.

"So how's Ken adjusting?" Katsu asked as they approached the club. Misao and Kenshin insulted each other behind them.

"He fits into university life better than I thought," Kaoru started, gathering her thoughts, "And he gets along well with this room mate, a guy named Jermaine."

"Does Jermaine have anything to do with vampire culture?"

Kaoru shook her head. "He doesn't have a clue. He's just your normal college grad student, a year older than Kenshin." She shrugged. "They play basketball together a lot."

"How old is Ken?" Katsu asked in a low tone so Kenshin couldn't overhear. Misao certainly could, with her enhanced hearing, but Kenshin's hearing, while still a lot keener than a normal human's, wouldn't pick up Katsu's whisper.

"Twenty-four," Kaoru answered him. They walked past a long line of people waiting to gain admission to the club.

"His biological clock started ticking again just like that?" Katsu asked.

"Yeah," Kaoru confirmed. It still amazed her. God was good.

"The Yumi woman must have been a genius," Katsu acknowledged. "I wish I'd been able to interview her for my newspaper before she was killed." He didn't have to whisper now. The music coming from the club masked his voice perfectly. Probably Misao couldn't hear him anymore. Aoshi and Tsubame stopped in front of two vampire bouncers and another person Kaoru couldn't see.

"Tsubame Myojin. I'm glad to have the honor," a loud male voice said from in front of them. Kaoru peered around Aoshi's shoulder and saw a tall thin man with spiky blonde hair kiss Tsubame's hand.

"My name is Cho Sawagejou. I manage Shinta for the Shinomoris."

"Pleased to meet you," Tsubame said lightly, withdrawing her hand from his grasp.

"My condolences concerning your husband, Mrs. Myojin."

"Thank you," Tsubame said graciously.

"Please follow me," Cho added, turning and leading the way into the club.

Kaoru concentrated on not tripping and embarrassing herself. She'd like to know how Tsubame carried herself like royalty in a skintight, thigh-length dress and knee-high boots. Kaoru was glad Kenshin had let her get away with designer jeans.

Shinta looked the same as it had when she'd come here undercover with Kenshin a year ago. The club was beautiful. Huge traditional Japanese paintings graced the walls, but the dance floor was the central focus of the room, massive and rectangular and filled with people. The smooth wooden floor shone in the dim light and red and black balloons graced the ceiling above the floor, ties streaming down a few feet above the heads of the dancers. Tables were set up along the left of the hall, with a bar in the far corner left corner and one in the corner just to her right. A red carpet wound around the floor and the tables. Private rooms marked by the clinking of glasses and cigarette smoke as thick as fog stretched along the far right of the room.

A year ago, Kenshin had led her to the right along the red carpet and helped seat her at the bar. Now, Cho of-the-long-and-complicated-last-name led them past the dance floor and into the first private room. The room was dominated by a circular wooden table set for eight people. Smaller tables set for four were scattered around the rest of the room. The place was empty.

They took seats at the big circle table while Cho and Kenshin spoke in hushed tones at the door. Then Kenshin took a seat next to Kaoru and an empty chair to his left. Kaoru didn't miss the fact that none of the vampires took the seat closest to the door, where their backs would have been unguarded.

"He's been delayed, but he should be here in a few minutes," Cho announced to the room, but mainly to Aoshi, who was sitting between the other empty seat and Misao.

"The bum's late," Misao muttered next to Kaoru. Katsu, sitting across from Kaoru, winked at her. Next to him, Tsubame uncharacteristically rolled her eyes. Since Aoshi and Katsu were more extensively armed than the women, they sat closest to the door.

"Leave us," Aoshi commanded in a deadpan voice. Cho left, shutting the door softly behind him. The loud music was muffled.

To her left, Kenshin found her hand and squeezed gently. He knew she felt uneasy about visiting Shinta again. But it was silly to be intimidated by a place, so she'd agreed to come to NYC with him. Nowadays, she usually wore a cross necklace, various bracelets with little cross charms, and a new pair of gold cross earrings Kenshin had gotten her for Christmas. There was also her cross anklet, and the toe ring with the cross on it that she wore in the summer. Just in case.

Misao struck up a loud conversation with Aoshi. Tsubame and Katsu began discussing some issue or another together, since they were sitting alone between the two empty chairs.

Kenshin rubbed a thumb across her hand. "You okay? You haven't been talking much."

"I'm fine," she told him. She could be calm and composed for Kenshin. Piece of cake. "Was that Cho guy running Shinta when we came here last time?"

"No. He was living in an alley then. He owes the Shinomoris a lot."

"He owes you too, doesn't he?" Kaoru guessed.

"I've helped him out in the past, yes," Kenshin said, not really telling her anything.

"I hate it when you're evasive."

He smiled. "It's better you don't know much about Cho. So do you want to drive back tonight or stay over at Misao and Aoshi's?" He'd changed the subject, but Kaoru decided to let him. She was feeling generous tonight.

"I vote we stay over. I'm feeling a little guilty about making you drive the whole way up."

Kenshin shrugged. "I like to drive and I know you hate New York traffic and Jersey drivers."

"The Jersey drivers thing got ruined now that most of my friends live there. Now I call them idiots for not knowing how to pump their own gas."

"Very mature, baby," Kenshin said.

"Well I am growing up," Kaoru said. "I can drink legally now, you know."

"And you were drinking illegally before?" Misao asked with interest.

"In some circles, I'm called a goody-two-shoes," Kaoru admitted, "but yes, Misao, I did engage in underage drinking. Kenshin made me."

"What?" Misao said at the same time that Kenshin said, "I didn't make you."

"It was red wine at a beach party," Kaoru confided to Misao.

"What?" Kenshin asked.

"I don't suppose he let you drive afterwards?" Katsu asked from across the table.

"Hey-" Kenshin protested.

"No," Kaoru shook her head. "He drove."

"Well at least there's that," Misao said, glaring at Kenshin.

Kenshin probably would have argued, but the door opened and Cho poked his head in cautiously.

"He's here. Are you ready to see him?" Cho asked.

Aoshi nodded.

Cho receded from the doorway and Sano walked in.

It wasn't really Sano, Kaoru realized after an instant of stunned silence during which she forgot to breathe. But this man looked like Sano's brother. His brown hair was exactly the same shade as Sano's, though cut in a different style. His face was the same. Hell, even his expression was the same and he held himself the same way. His eye shape was the same, but the irises were such a deep shade of blue they looked black. Still, the way those eyes looked at the world was the same as Sano had when Kaoru had talked with him in the holding cell. He was a couple inches shorter, and built slender, more like Kenshin than Sano.

The man grinned and Kaoru looked at Kenshin, because this felt impossible and she didn't know if he could take it. He'd been miserable when Sano had died.

"My name is Zanza, fighter for hire," the man said. Kaoru's eyes shot back to him of their own accord because his voice was the same too.

Aoshi stood and shook his hand. "You're late."

His grin slipped a little towards the sheepish side. "Sorry. Bad first impression for your interview board, I know. I apologize."

Listening to him talk was fascinating. A miracle.

"You've met my wife, Misao," Aoshi continued. Misao stood and shook hands with Zanza.

"Hello again, Mrs. Shinomori," he said smoothly.

"Aoshi won't kill you if you call me Misao in front of him," she said just as smoothly. Misao had known about this and hadn't told her? Kaoru could hardly believe it. And what was this about Aoshi's interview board?

"Skip the personal introductions and come sit by me," Tsubame said. "There'll be enough time to get to know each other later." She patted the empty seat between her and Kenshin. Zanza obeyed her and sat.

"Battousai," Aoshi said, "In one year, you'll become an integral part of vampire society in the United States. Knowing this, I judged it in my interest to recruit a body guard to accompany you as long as you continue working for me."

"We know you can take care of yourself, Himura," Misao put in. "But a human isn't much of a challenge for a vampire, so when we found him we figured two humans would work better. Zanza is like backup. We'll pay his salary, so you don't have to worry about money."

"Why are you hiring him now?" Kaoru asked when Kenshin was silent. It looked like he'd gone into shock. She couldn't really blame him.

"You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here," Zanza said, looking a little irritated.

"Sorry-" Kaoru started.

"Because he looks so much like Sano," Katsu exclaimed.

"Don't tell me you don't see it?" Misao asked.

"And he acts just like him too," Katsu added.

"And he's human," Misao exclaimed.

"Hey, who's Sano?" Zanza asked.

And suddenly everyone was talking at once, even Aoshi, but Kaoru didn't mind because out of the blue Kenshin was talking to Zanza. He was looking a little lost, but Zanza looked a little lost too, and Kenshin looking lost was a lot better than Kenshin looking smug all the time. He still looked smug and sure of himself way too often.

"Hey, Missy," Zanza said to her. "How do you fit into all this?"

Once, Sano had called her Missy.

_- _

_That's easy. Poke him in the stomach.  
What?  
When he jumps up to take a shot, just poke him in the stomach. After a couple times, he'll be scared to shoot around you.  
Isn't that a foul?  
Kid, this is street ball. He's not going to stop the game because you poked him in the stomach.  
What if I hurt him?  
I said to poke him, not to use your finger as a knife and jab him in the stomach._

-

**Two Years Later: Late Summer 2005**

-

"Kaoru," Chihiro said, poking her head in the door of the waitress' locker room. "He's here."

Kaoru flashed her a smile. "Thanks. Could you tell him I'll be there in a minute?"

"Sure," Chihiro said, clearly happy to have an excuse to talk to Kenshin. Everyone at Tae's loved him. They probably liked talking to him more than her, Kaoru admitted to herself as she finished tying her running shoes. For the two summers Kenshin had been coming to pick her up after work, whatever time she got off, her popularity with the other girls had increased. Maybe by fifty percent. It wasn't that they didn't like her, or at least that's what she told herself, it was just that Kenshin seemed to be growing more and more handsome as he aged, and he'd had over two hundred years to practice his charm. And then there was the fact that he enjoyed life more than anyone she'd ever known, probably because he'd been a vampire for so long. He loved sunlight. He woke up annoyingly early to watch the sunrise.

Shoes tied, Kaoru stood and grabbed the backpack she'd stuffed her work clothes into. She hadn't bothered to fold them, so they'd be wrinkled when she pulled them out again. Oh well. Today was her last day of work anyway. Glancing around the locker room one last time, she blew it a farewell kiss and left for the restaurant proper.

It was easy enough to spot Kenshin. He was standing near the checkout counter, surrounded by Tae and almost all the waitresses currently on duty. It was a good thing she'd got over being jealous of other women a long time ago.

As she stepped closer, she wasn't sure that she was over it after all, because Kenshin was practically glowing. He was really happy about something. The man did not glow on a regular basis. It had better not be because of all those waitresses.

Kenshin turned and finally spotted Kaoru coming towards him from the back of the restaurant. She looked a little grumpy, but he had news that would cheer her up. All of a sudden he grew impatient to be rid of the waitresses and alone with her. Partly because she was Kaoru and partly because he couldn't wait to tell her. Her eyes softened when she saw him looking at her, and she smiled. Life was good when Kaoru smiled.

"I'll miss you, Kao," Tae said, throwing her arms around her former waitress in a hug. "You're one of the most dependable waitresses I've ever employed."

Ken watched Kaoru say her good-byes, not that she wouldn't be seeing all these women again in a week. Chihiro and another waitress named Karen were actually crying. Kaoru had tears in her eyes. Women. Kaoru had cried at graduation too, and again when she'd moved out of the apartment she'd lived in with two other women for the last two years of her undergraduate career.

"You two are going jogging again?" Chihiro observed once things had died down and no one was crying anymore.

"Everyday this week so I can fit into the dress," Kaoru said cheerfully. She'd run track in high school and kept in shape during the four years since then.

"You're beautiful. You'll fit," Kenshin said. And if she didn't he'd fit her into it somehow. Kamatari had designed it for free, so there was no way he was paying for another one.

Kaoru shot him a grateful look.

Tae suddenly noticed the lack of service the customers were receiving. "Oh my God, the customers! See you later you two," she said and hurried towards a large couple seated in a booth. "Ladies," she said sharply to the waitresses.

Kenshin slipped an arm around Kaoru's waist and took her backpack as the waitresses walked away after a last whispered flurry of good-byes and smiles.

"Thanks," she said softly before she kissed him. He resisted the sudden urge to grope her in public by concentrating on the feel of her mouth and not her body pressed against his. Nope, not that.

"The park?" she asked as they broke apart and started walking out of the Akabeko, hand in hand. "We can leave the car by the lake, jog out a mile or so, and be back at the car in time for sunset."

He held the restaurant door open for her and the heat from the late summer sun hit him. "I'm going to be soaked with sweat by the time I'm done, aren't I?"

"You know I like you hot and sweaty," she said, shocking a conservative looking married couple with two kids as they entered the restaurant. The wife gasped and placed her hands over her son's ears, glaring at Kenshin as if he were responsible for the words that came out of Kaoru's mouth. Kaoru didn't seem to notice. She spotted his car and started towards it.

Kenshin caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "You can't say that and then walk away from me," he said in her ear before he kissed her neck.

Kaoru giggled and tried to keep walking, but Kenshin leaned against her and they wound up weaving across the parking lot to where his jeep was parked in the shade.

"You're a ridiculous man," she told him, giving up and twisting around to face him with difficulty. "It's too hot to hang all over me like this."

They both knew she didn't mean it.

"I must be subconsciously trying to make you hot and sweaty," Kenshin said as she slid her arms around his neck and pressed close to him. He could feel her breasts against his chest. Wonderful feeling that was. "Let's skip the jog and make out in the car instead." It wasn't like she needed the exercise anyway.

"Kenshin, you said you'd take me to the park," Kaoru protested, clearly not feeling the make out vibe. He kissed her and she melted against him, which was fine with him.

Beeeep.

Kaoru jumped and Kenshin realized they were standing in the middle of a parking space and some idiot who wanted to park there was beeping his horn at them. Kenshin flicked them off for ruining it.

Kaoru didn't notice and started dragging him towards the car again. "That jerk! I've never been beeped at for standing in a parking lot before. It's a free country." Kaoru took it personally when other drivers beeped at her. She didn't take criticism about her driving very well. "Who does he think he is? He's lucky I'm in a good mood, or-"

Kenshin tuned out her tirade until they reached the car. He was content watching her walk. Her jogging shorts were navy blue and very short. He could see the outline of her sports bra against the white of the t-shirt she wore. Sensible running shoes and ankle socks completed the outfit, except her hair was still up in that bun Tae made all the waitresses wear. Tae probably thought the bun said perky and willing to serve, but it did nothing for Kaoru but make her look older than she really was at twenty-two. Not that he'd ever tell her that.

They arrived at the car and Kaoru stopped, waiting for him to unlock the door. Instead, he reached out, pulled the tie from her hair, and watched it fall down her back in slow waves.

Kaoru turned to face him, grinning. "I forgot you hate the bun. I need it in a ponytail for running anyway," she said, gathering her hair up to the top of her head with her hands. He took over, since he still held the hair tie, completing the ponytail. He loved touching Kaoru's hair. Kenshin stepped back to admire his handiwork.

"It's not too tight is it?"

"It's fine. Thanks, hon," Kaoru assured him as he unlocked the passenger door and held it open for her. "So what did you want to tell me? You looked really excited back inside."

Seeing Kaoru had made him forget. "Oh yeah," he said, closing the door behind her and walking around to the driver's side. She'd buckled her seat belt and was staring at him expectantly by the time he opened the door and climbed in the jeep.

"Well?"

He tossed the backpack to her and shut his door. "Tsubame developed the formula."

Kaoru's eyes widened, a slow smile dawning across her features. "Did she test it yet?"

He nodded. "It works. The results are even better than Yumi's. Quicker recovery time after the blood transfusion, a well developed immune system, and less risk of skin cancer."

Kaoru leaned across the gear shift to give him a jubilant hug. "Tsubame's a genius! Did she and Aoshi agree on how to distribute the chemical?"

"They're still working it out, but Zanza thinks the negotiations are going as quickly as can be expected. I agree with him."

Kaoru let out a high pitched sound that was close to a squeal. "This is great, Kenshin! I know how much that chemical means to you. Tsubame's still coming next week, right? I haven't talked to her in a couple weeks."

"Yeah. Now that it's a major political thing, she couldn't miss it if she wanted to." Kenshin decided to plow ahead with what he had to say next. "She's bringing Saitou as her date."

"That man annoys me. Isn't he married?"

"He is."

"It doesn't matter." She said after a moment. "Next week is about you and me. Saitou's probably pissed that he has to come anyway. But Tsubame really got it? She really got the chemical to work?"

Kenshin nodded, relief and tired contentment flooding him. "She called me on my cell a couple hours after I dropped you off at work." He put the key in the ignition and started the car.

"I'll have to call her and congratulate her," Kaoru said, sitting back properly in her seat with a huge smile and fishing around in her backpack for something as he backed the car out of the parking space. "The drive's short. We don't need air conditioning," she decided, leaved her window rolled down and punching the dial for the radio. A rhythm and blues song permeated the car and drifted out the open windows. Kenshin had learned that Kaoru liked listening to male voices best. If he'd thought there was the slightest chance of her actually meeting one of those voices, he'd have been jealous. Luckily, Kaoru didn't have connections in the music business.

"She misses Yahiko so much. I hope this'll cheer her up for a while," Kaoru said wistfully. She found a headband in her bag and slid it into place. "I can't imagine how it'd be without you."

"You can't just imagine me away, you know," he teased, pulling out onto the road. He was tired of seeing Kaoru sad.

"I know. I know. You're like my personal leech," Kaoru accused, perking up.

"And you're my personal tapeworm. You eat all the food I cook."

"You can't actually expect me to eat the food I cook."

"It doesn't taste that bad."

"But I have to work so hard to get food to taste good," she protested. "You do it effortlessly. So I'd rather be lazy while you cook than waste all that effort."

"And you'll make it up to me how?"

"I shall bless you with my presence," Kaoru said imperiously, as if she were royalty.

"Not good enough." Kenshin said dryly.

Kaoru sighed. "Fine. I'll let you touch me once a month."

"Baby, you must have gone out your mind."

"I'll let you use disgusting pet names like 'ickle love monkey'."

Kenshin burst out laughing.

"How about 'smoochy muffin' or 'fluff bunny' or 'snookum pookums'?" she asked seriously. He had to give her credit for keeping a straight face. He was lucky they were at a stop light or he'd probably be weaving across the road.

"I think I can tolerate them unless you call me 'tickle tum' or 'cuddle butt' or something equally distasteful," Kaoru continued, mouth quirking.

"Where do you get this?" he asked when he could breathe normally again.

"The internet," Kaoru answered without a beat.

_- _

_Pick up line challenge.  
Why?  
No reason.  
Ok.  
I'm a love pirate and I'm here for your booty. Arrghhh!  
… Fair enough. Baby, if you were words on a page, you'd be FINE print.  
I'm fighting the urge to make you the happiest woman on earth tonight.  
The only thing your eyes haven't told me is your name.  
Here's a nice one. Excuse me, I just noticed you noticing me and I just wanted to give you notice that I noticed you too.  
I bet you twenty dollars you're gonna turn me down.  
Clever.__ See my friend over there? He wants to know if you think I'm cute.  
Nice dress. Can I talk you out of it?  
Do you have a map? I keep on getting lost in your eyes.  
Is there an airport nearby, or is my heart taking off?  
… You win._

-

Soujiro picked up the phone and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Souj? It's Atsuko."

"Oh hey! How're you?"

"I'm good. How's your summer job going?"

"Great. My boss wants to hire me after I get out of grad school. She's a nice woman. How's your husband?"

"Oh Enishi's good too. He's on vacation for the next two weeks, so we're headed for a road trip, but I thought I'd let you know before we left so you didn't get worried."

Soujiro's family had flown straight to Los Angeles from Japan when he'd been catatonic two years ago. He'd recovered quickly after their arrival, so his family had decided to spend the rest of their vacation in California. Enishi had stuck around to protect them against any vampires with a grudge against Shishio. Somewhere in there Atsuko and Enishi had fallen for each other. They'd gotten married a few months ago and both lived and worked in southern California.

"That was nice of you," Soujiro commented, sitting down at the kitchen table and idly paging through one of his mother's gardening catalogs.

"So are you going to the wedding next week?" Atsuko asked. He'd known she wanted to ask that.

"No."

"But Kaoru and Kenshin invited you right?"

"Yeah. But I'm not going."

"I thought you were over her."

"I am."

It was the truth. Two years ago, Suzume had also accompanied the Seta family around California. Since her aunt, Ayame, was a vampire, it was a nice show of loyalty between the hunters and the Juppongatana that she and Enishi got along. Soujiro had briefly gone out with Suzume, but it hadn't lasted, and they'd both moved on. He'd taken a break from dating and studied abroad in Spain his junior year of college. He'd lived with a Spanish couple who had a daughter his age named Claudia. She became his closest friend in Spain. Before he'd left to go back to the States, their relationship had developed in a romantic nature. He'd never thought things could get better than the time he was with Kaoru, but surprise surprise. He was happier with Claudia than he'd ever been with Kaoru. In the fall she was going to grad school in the states at the same university he'd be attending.

"I don't want to ruin their wedding, Atsuko. You know Kaoru still feels guilty about dumping me."

His sister sighed on the other end of the line. "I know. I guess I just wanted someone to talk to at the wedding."

"What about Enishi?" Soujiro reminded her.

"He and Kaoru get along so well, he'll probably leave me the second we get there and flock off to see her. If only she wasn't so nice I could hate her."

Soujiro couldn't help smiling. "Don't waste your time hating Kaoru. She and I are better off without each other."

"I'll believe that when I meet Claudia," Atsuko said lightly. "Mom and Dad are going to the wedding, right?"

"Yeah," Soujiro confirmed, stifling a yawn. "Kaoru's still grateful to them for breaking the truth about vampires and hunters to her parents, and Mom's practically in love with Kenshin, so of course they were invited too."

"Alright. Is Mom there? I need to talk to her."

"No. She went to buy a present for Kaoru's wedding shower. Want me to tell her to call you back?" Sou asked.

"Yeah. On my cell. Enishi and I are leaving as soon as he gets back. Any plans for tonight, Sou?"

"Nah. Just sleep. Working fulltime is wearing me out."

"I hear that," his sister agreed. "At least we don't have to study for finals anymore. College sucked like that."

"Speak for yourself. I'm going to grad school, remember?"

"Yeah, but you'll be there with Claudia." Atsuko said her name in a sing-song tone. "I can't believe you two are renting an apartment together. What were our parents thinking?"

"We're both twenty-two, Atsuko," Soujiro defended both his and Claudia's parents. What had they been thinking?

"You better not break up with her. It'll be hell living with a woman you dumped. Oh, Enishi's back," she said, sounding rushed. "Remember to tell Mom to call me on my cell, okay?"

"I will. Say hi to him for me."

"Okay. Love you. See ya."

"See ya."

Soujiro pushed the off button on the phone and stood up from the table. He yawned and hung the phone back on its rightful spot on the wall. Padding out of the kitchen in his slippers, he headed for his bedroom. He really was tired.

_- _

_My tongue!  
Huh?  
I have dog hair on my tongue!_

-

"I'm exhausted," Kaoru declared, sitting down beside Kenshin on their couch and practically burrowing into him. Not that he minded.

"At least there's air conditioning," Kenshin stated on the favor of the positive side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "And the cable works." He continued flipping past a pre-season football game and the eleven o'clock news. They'd finally finished moving the last of the furniture into the modest house they'd been able to afford on the money Kenshin had saved as a vampire and Kaoru had earned all the years she'd worked summers at the Akabeko.

"I can't believe I'm starting law school in a week," Kaoru said. They'd pushed back the honeymoon until her Christmas break. He didn't mind. Sex with Kaoru was great no matter where he was.

"Don't remind me. I have to start work in a week," Kenshin replied. He'd saved up enough money for them to live on for the rest of their lives, but that didn't mean he was retiring at twenty-five.

"Speaking of work, do you think this Kachina Carolina is going to be a problem?"

"Zanza told you about her?" he asked, wishing Zanza hadn't told his new bride anything. There was no reason for Kaoru to worry about a vampire up in Newport, Rhode Island.

"Yeah," Kaoru confirmed what he already knew. "He said she's turned unwilling humans."

"It's a rumor. Aoshi's always been on good terms with her. Nothing's happening any time soon." And if something did happen with Kachina Carolina to confirm that she really was turning unwilling humans into vampires, there wasn't much he could do yet anyway. Aoshi had not yet reached an agreement with the Juppongatana over the distribution of Yumi's chemical, which Tsubame had dubbed YM2.

"Zanza made her sound dangerous," Kaoru said. There was a troubled tone to her voice as she shifted to get comfortable against him.

"He's exaggerating," Kenshin said, even though Kachina Carolina was dangerous. "Let's not talk about work." He sat the remote down and drew her into his lap. "I still can't believe you married me."

She smiled, the shadows flitting from her eyes. "I guess we can talk about work later." She leaned forward and kissed him. By now they'd kissed a million times. Cherry kisses and root beer kisses and pizza kisses and wine kisses. Chocolate cake kisses and ice cream cake kisses and marble cake kisses and cheesecake kisses. Nowadays, kissing Kaoru ranked number two on his top ten list. Number one was rather obvious and also involved Kaoru. In fact, numbers one through ten all involved Kaoru. Sano would have laughed. He was probably snickering with Megumi in some corner of heaven that very moment.

Kaoru slid off him and onto the couch with a soft plop, television remote in hand.

"Did you kiss me to get the remote?"

She threaded an arm through his, eyes focused on the television the whole time. "I hate it when you take forever flipping through channels, so I'll pick."

"I can't believe you kissed me just to get the remote."

"Well I also like kissing you, if that makes you feel any better," Kaoru offered, settling for a kung fu movie and tossing the remote to the other side of the room, presumably to keep it away from him.

"I guess it does," Kenshin admitted.

She kissed his cheek. "I love you."

Kenshin settled down to watch kung fu on his TV with his wife on his couch in his house. Actually their TV, their couch, and their house. But all the same, his wife, and that was really the most important part.

_- _

_You know, normal vampires don't need deodorant.  
Are you saying I smell?  
No. Just that normal vampires don't need deodorant._

-  


'Silver Cross' Time Line

1777 – Kenshin Himura is born  
1800 – Kenshin "Battousai" Himura is turned into a vampire at the age of 23  
1851 – Sanosuke Sagara is born  
1876 – Sano is turned at the age of 25  
1923 – Megumi Takani dies  
1956 – Sano and Ken meet Ayame  
1976 – Ken, Sano, and Ayame split up  
1980 – Ken and Sano split up; Sano joins the Sekihoutai  
1983 – Kaoru Kamiya is born  
1985 – Sekihoutai begins monitoring the 'dark one'  
1988 – Ken begins covert operations for Katsura, not knowing he's the 'dark one'  
1992 – Sano dies; Las Vegas convention; Ken discovers Katsura is the 'dark one' before Katsura disappears forever  
2003 – Ken meets Kaoru; Silver Cross takes place  
2004 – Kenshin and Kaoru meet Zanza  
2005 – Kenshin and Kaoru are married

**- **

**A/N – I loved writing Silver Cross, partly because I love writing, and partly because I love having an impact on other people, making an impression in their lives. I hope Silver Cross made a good impression. Each and every reviewer inspired me to finish this story, including my first flamer at chapter one, and the favorable reviews were better than chocolate after a break up.**

**I can hardly believe it's over, but I think it's time I left this couple alone. This means no sequel. Life certainly promises to be interesting for those two.**

**Until we meet again,  
Aryanne**


End file.
